The Belgian beauty who got a L’Oreal modeling deal after her World Cup photos went viral earlier this week has been released from her contract.
The decision was taken after 17-year-old Axelle Despiegelaere sparked outrage on Facebook with a picture showing her posing with a dead oryx gazelle she had hunted in Africa.
“Hunting is not a matter of life or death,” she said in the photo’s description. “It’s much more important than that … this was about 1 year ago … ready to hunt americans today haha.”
The post came on the day that Belgium eliminated the United States at the World Cup. After the furor began on Facebook, Despiegelaere responded: “Hi, I didn’t mean to offend anyone … it was a joke. Thanks for understanding.”
L’Oreal officials say that Despiegelaere will no longer be representing the company and that her contract has officially been “completed,”
A spokesperson for L’Oreal said:
“L’Oreal Professionnel Belgium collaborated with her on an ad hoc basis to produce a video for social media use in Belgium. The contract has now been completed.”
Despite admitting that they were aware of the controversial photo, the spokesperson did not specifically say whether it directly led to Despiegelaere’s termination.
But they insisted that the French cosmetics giant “no longer tests on animals, anywhere in the world, and does not delegate this task to others,”