Amena Khan, The First Hijab-Wearing L'Oréal Paris Model, Has Stepped Down Amid Controversy

Amena Khan recently made history when L'Oréal Paris UK made her the first hijab-wearing woman to feature in one of their campaigns. The British beauty blogger joined a number of other UK influencers in the new L'Oréal Paris Elvive Nutri-Gloss campaign.

Amena posted on Instagram on Jan. 22, saying that she had decided to step down from the campaign due to "current conversations surrounding" tweets that she posted in 2014, which criticized Israel. She followed by saying she doesn't want this to "detract from the positive and inclusive sentiment that [the campaign] set out to deliver." She has since deleted the tweets because she believes it no longer "represent[s] the message of harmony I stand for."

A L'Oréal Paris spokesperson released a statement in reaction to Amena's decision, saying: "We have recently been made aware of a series of tweets posted in 2014 by Amena Khan, who was featured in a UK advertising campaign. We appreciate that Amena has since apologized for the content of these tweets and the offense they have caused. L'Oréal Paris is committed to tolerance and respect towards all people. We agree with her decision to step down from the campaign."