John Boyega slams Jo Malone for replacing him in ad for China, steps down as global ambassador
John Boyega is calling out "nonsense" from a British perfume brand as he resigns as its global ambassador.
The Star Wars star has announced he's stepping down as global ambassador for Jo Malone after it replaced him in the Chinese version of a commercial that he conceived and directed.
"Their decision to replace my campaign in China by using my concepts and substituting a local brand ambassador for me, without either my consent or prior notice, was wrong," Boyega tweeted.
As the actor pointed out on Twitter, the original ad "celebrated my personal story — showcasing my hometown, including my friends and featuring my family." But in the version for China, a local actor, Liu Haoran, replaced Boyega, and no Black actors were featured, The Hollywood Reporter notes. Jo Malone London had previously issued an apology for "a mistake in the local execution of the John Boyega campaign," adding that "while we immediately took action and removed the local version of the campaign, we recognize that this was painful and that offense was caused."
Boyega on Twitter wrote that "while many brands understandably use a variety of global and local ambassadors, dismissively trading out one's culture this way is not something I can condone," adding, "I don't have time for nonsense."
As Variety notes, this controversy over the Jo Malone ad came after Boyega's Star Wars character, Finn, appeared noticeably smaller on the Chinese version of the movie poster for 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The actor, who in June delivered a passionate speech at a London Black Lives Matter protest, recently opened up in an interview with GQ about dealing with racism and criticized Disney for the way his Star Wars character was handled.
"Do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side," Boyega told GQ. "It's not good."
More stories from theweek.com
5 scathing cartoons about the politics of wildfires
Biden narrowly leads Trump in Wisconsin, ties him on crime and safety
Trump says he'll be on Fox & Friends every week — but host Steve Doocy doesn't agree to have him
