Star Wars actor raises a stink after he is cut from Jo Malone’s China ad
JOHN BOYEGA, the Star Wars actor, has quit his promotional role with the perfume brand Jo Malone after he was removed from the Chinese version of an advert he helped devise.
Boyega was the first male global ambassador to represent the company, and last year created a short film for an aftershave advertising campaign.
He had said the film told his “personal story”, featuring friends and family and celebrated Peckham, south-east London, where he had grown up, as well as his Nigerian heritage.
The campaign won an industry award, but when it appeared on screens in China, Boyega had been replaced by a Chinese actor.
In the new version, Liu Haoran mimicked Boyega’s performance to a tee, and the friends and family in the original had mysteriously vanished.
It prompted Boyega, 28, to announce he would be cutting his ties with Jo Malone. “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,” he said. “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. I don’t have time for nonsense.”
Boyega recently attracted publicity when he joined Black Lives Matter protests, giving an impassioned speech at in Hyde Park in June when he told a crowd that he did not care if his career was harmed by him speaking out.
In a statement, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter – before Boyega stepped down – Jo Malone London, which is owned by Estée Lauder, said: “The concept for the film was based on John’s personal experiences, and should not have been replicated. While we immediately removed the local version of the campaign, we recognise that this was painful and that offence was caused. We respect John. We are taking this misstep very seriously, and working as a brand to do better.”
In 2016, Disney produced a poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens for China in which, Boyega, who plays the character Finn, had been shrunk in scale and put towards the bottom of a collage of characters – having dominated an earlier version.
Estée Lauder has been contacted for comment.