Business

L'Oreal Severs Ties With Viral World Cup Model After Crass Hunting Photo Emerges

Posted July 10, 2014 11:00 pm

Aly Weisman

L'Oreal has ended its contract with 17-year-old World Cup fan Axelle Despiegelaere, who landed a modeling deal with the world's biggest beauty company after photos of the attractive teen cheering on Belgium went viral.

But fans were outraged after Axelle recently posted a photo of herself to Facebook in which she is holding a rifle, proudly sitting behind what appears to be a dead gazelle she shot while hunting.

The caption, in reference to the World Cup match, read: "Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that..this was about 1 year ago...ready to hunt Americans today haha."

After feeling the heat from fans, Axelle apologized in the comments section of her post, saying "i didn't mean to offend anyone..it was a joke."

But L'Oreal isn't laughing.

The beauty giant tells The Independent that Axelle's contract has been "completed."

"L'Oréal Professionnel Belgium collaborated with her on an ad hoc basis to produce a video for social media use in Belgium," said a spokesperson. "The contract has now been completed."

The announcement came after fans took to social media to express their outrage that L'Oreal would be affiliated with Axelle after her controversial post.

Although the spokesperson said L'Oreal is aware of the photograph, it would not comment on whether it was the reason behind the decision to cut Axelle's contract.

However, they did stress to The Independent that L'Oréal "no longer tests on animals, anywhere in the world, and does not delegate this task to others."

In 2012, the beauty giant even donated $1.2 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help improve the testing of safe chemicals.

Upon arriving home to Belgium after her fame-making trip to the World Cup, Axelle posted to Facebook that she had "Made my decision..signed my contract with L'Oreal!"

The 17-year filmed a hair tutorial video for L'Oreal, in which she promotes many of their products.

Unluckily for Axelle, L'Oréal is known for its multi-million dollar modeling contracts and high-profile ambassadors, including Jennifer Lopez and Blake Lively.

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MORE: 17-Year-Old World Cup Fan Gets Modeling Deal With L'Oreal After Photos Go Viral

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