News and Commentary

John Boyega Quits Perfume Ambassador Role After Company Hires Chinese Actor For China Campaign

"Their decision to replace my campaign in China..."

   DailyWire.com
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 02: John Boyega attends the EE British Academy Film Awards 2020 After Party at The Grosvenor House Hotel on February 02, 2020 in London, England.
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Actor John Boyega, who played Finn in the Disney “Star Wars” franchise, quit his role as global ambassador for the perfume brand Jo Malone after the company hired a Chinese actor for the Chinese campaign.

In a Twitter announcement posted on Tuesday, Boyega said that he helped create the ad campaign for Jo Malone before the company decided to use a Chinese actor for marketing in China.

“I have decided to step down as Jo Malone’s global ambassador. When I joined the brand as their first male global ambassador last year, I created the short film we used to launch the campaign. It won the Fragrance Foundation Virtual awards 2020 for Best Media Campaign,” he began.

“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 continued. “The film celebrated my personal story– showcasing my hometown, including my friends and featuring my family.”

Though Boyega understood that brands do use a variety of ambassadors for global branding, he felt that Jo Malone was “trading out one’s culture.”

“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,” he tweeted.

“It’s back to back but I assure you this will be dealt with swiftly. I don’t have time for nonsense. We press on and strong. Stay blessed people,” he concluded.

According to The Associated Press, the original ad, titled “The London Gent,” aired last year and indeed featured much of Boyega’s own personal touch.

“It features the London-born actor walking around the neighborhood where he grew up and riding a horse in a park, and it makes a reference to his Nigerian heritage in a scene featuring West African attire,” said the report.

“It’s not the first time Boyega has been deleted from a China-based ad,” the report continued. “He played a leading role as Finn in 2015′s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ but he and other non-white characters were removed or diminished from a Chinese poster for the blockbuster movie.”

Speaking with Britsh GQ earlier this month, Boyega said his character in the Disney “Star Wars” franchise was sidelined while all the white actors received more nuanced treatment.

“You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything,” he said. “[But] what I would say to Disney is 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. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up.”

Boyega charged that Disney “knew” what to do with Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver’s characters while not having a clue what to do with Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, or himself.

“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he said. “You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f**k all. So, what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience…’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience.”

“They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything,” he added.

RELATED: ‘Star Wars’ Actor John Boyega: Disney Producers Gave All The Nuanced Storylines To White Actors

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