Munroe Bergdorf race row incident

Bergdorf appeared on Good Morning Britain, where she argued with Piers Morgan; he was affronted by her view that he could be considered racist or sexist.

Following her dismissal, Bergdorf appeared on morning television show Good Morning Britain on 4 September. There, she argued with the host Piers Morgan, who disagreed with a number of her views.[15] He claimed to be offended by Bergdorf's suggestion that he, as a white man, was racist or sexist.[3] She followed this with an appearance on the television show Victoria Derbyshire. There, she stated that L'Oréal should not have sacked her and that it was ironic that they dropped her while retaining Cheryl Cole on the same campaign given that the latter had been "actively convicted for punching a black woman", the nightclub toilet attendant Sophie Amogbokpa, in 2003.[16] Cole's representative issued a statement declaring that her employer was "disappointed" at being introduced into the controversy, adding that Cole had been "unanimously acquitted" of having any racial motivations in the 2003 incident.[17]

Writing in an op ed for the i newspaper, India Willoughby stated that—although as a fellow trans woman she sympathised with Bergdorf in many ways—she did not believe that simply being a member of a minority gave Bergdorf "free reign [sic] to insult a large percentage of the population". Criticising Bergdorf for presenting herself as a martyr, Willoughby further chastised "the right-on brigade" for "predictably" presenting the model as the victim of the situation while not "leap[ing] to the defence of the many decent and innocent people Munroe attacked."[18] Writing for The Irish Times, Laura Kennedy stated that while Bergdorf should be free to express "her no doubt well-intended but very divisive and bigoted opinion", L'Oréal should have every right to end its association with her as a result of her statements. Kennedy expressed support for some of Bergdorf's views—such as the need for wider acknowledgment of colonialism—but critiqued what she regarded as the "increasingly popular but very shaky postmodernist and intersectional theory" upon which Bergdorf's arguments relied. Kennedy argued that this form of identity politics classifies "whole swathes of varied individuals into groups" and negates the role of inner-group diversity, individuality, and agency; she believed that it encouraged individuals to make "sweeping judgements" about people by "categorising them as part of my group, or external to it." In turn, she noted, it closely mirrors the logic used by white supremacists and identitarians.[19]

In an op-ed written for The Independent, Otamere Guobadia argued that the controversy surrounding Bergdorf's comments was "part of a long media tradition of painting anti-racism activists, and particularly black women, as irrational anti-white furies", comparing it to the controversy that erupted the previous month following Jason Osamede Okundaye's statement that "all white people are racist". Guobadia added that in sacking Bergdorf, L'Oréal was "contributing to the silencing of anti-racism activists" by ramping up the consequences for those "speaking out against racism" towards people of colour.[20]

Left-wing columnists Owen Jones and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown were among those claiming that the British right-wing ignored Bergdorf's right to free speech while claiming it for those expressing homophobic or misogynistic sentiment

The commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown argued that there was a trend among the British right-wing to defend free speech for white men but not for individuals of other backgrounds. As evidence, she contrasted the way that Bergdorf's comment was received on social media with the way that the politician Jacob Rees-Mogg and conversion therapist Mike Davidson—both white men—had been publicly received after making controversial comments during that same month. Alibhai-Brown stated that in the UK, there was a situation whereby "freedom of speech is a now a right reserved for white toffs and homophobes, bigots and sexists, populists and supremacists. The rest of us must watch what we say, or else."[4] Left-wing commentator Owen Jones concurred; in an article in the Irish Times, he stated that "the right-wing 'free speech' brigade did not proclaim [Bergdorf] was entitled to her opinion" in the same way that it had done for Davidson and other right-wing men.[21]

Writing for the New Statesman, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff argued that L'Oréal was "so blinded by gaining profit" that it did not bother to conduct "research into the people" it employed "in the first place". Brinkhurst-Cuff also argued that had the company's staff read Bergdorf's social media posts before hiring her, then they would be well aware of her views.[5] In an interview for The Guardian, Bergdorf stated that L'Oréal were aware that she was an activist when they hired her, and argued that "being an activist means calling people out, not just saying what everyone else is saying and what everyone else wants to think and upholding the common consensus."[3] She insisted that people should avoid what she described as dictionary definitions of "racism" because they were "written a very long time ago and not by a person of colour"; instead she argued that people should use the word "racism" only for "a whole system" upholding the social dominance of white people over people of colour through societal phenomena such as white privilege.[3]

Nosheen Iqbal, who interviewed Bergdorf for The Guardian, suggested that there were many problems facing Bergdorf's desire to promote anti-racist ideas initially generated among academic circles across the wider population. As Iqbal noted, "Not everyone reads Frantz Fanon and Patricia Hill Collins for kicks – academic theory will only go so far in convincing the average person on an average street that institutionalised, systemic racism is just as damaging as a violent, racist attack."[3]

Later in September, a rival beauty product brand, the UK-based Illamasqua, hired Bergdorf as the face of its Beauty Spotlight campaign, which focuses on gender fluidity.[11][22] In a statement, the company described Bergdorf as embodying "diversity and individuality; she is not scared to be truly herself."[11] It added that it did not "stand or accept any form of racism, but we also believe Munroe’s comments have been edited out of context by a certain media title (who we won't bother naming) without telling a true story".[22] Bergdorf had also worked for Illamasqua on a previous occasion.[22]

Also in September, Bergdorf gave a verbal performance of Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise" for a short film directed by Bec Evans and Laura Kirwan-Ashman.[23] That same month, the scriptwriter Gareth Roberts referenced Bergdorf in a tweet stating: "I [love] how trannies choose names like Munroe, Paris and Chelsea. It's never Julie or Bev is it?".[24] His tweet received headline attention in Britain.[25] Munroe hit back at Roberts on Instagram, stating "Excuse me for not choosing 'Bev' as a name. Do I look like a Bev?".[24] Several days later, she entered a Twitter argument with Morgan. She suggested that it was incongruous that he had not been sacked despite making many controversial statements and yet "somehow a black trans woman calling out [racist] behaviour is a sackable offence". He replied that her LGBT status had nothing to do with her losing her job with L'Oréal, and rather that she had been fired "for calling all white people violent racists", a sacking which he agreed with. After Bergdorf then retweeted Lily Allen's statement "#blockpiersmorgan", he responded: "please do, you insufferable creature".[26]

In December, Bergdorf reappeared on Good Morning Britain as a guest alongside the black writer and broadcaster Edward Adoo, invited to discuss Twitter's newly introduced restrictions on material displaying "hateful conduct". Bergdorf supported Twitter's move, and in the interview repeatedly used the word "nigger". Adoo expressed the view that it was inappropriate to use the term so regularly on breakfast-time television, with co-presenters Morgan and Susanna Reid requesting that Bergdorf cease using it; in turn, she stated that Morgan's attempt to get her to stop was itself "highly racist".[27][28] On Twitter, many users criticised Bergdorf's use of "nigger"; some stated that they found it offensive, others criticised the perceived double standard in which Bergdorf insisted on her right to use the term, but expressed condemnation of white people doing so.[27] Although acknowledging that to do so on morning television "may raise some eyebrows", after the interview Bergdorf defended her use of "nigger", stating that she did so "for a reason": "I wanted to highlight that the outrage of a black woman saying it around white people is often met with more outrage than the fact that black women in the media are barraged with this word by some white social media users."[28]

In June 2020, during the international George Floyd protests, Bergdorf criticized L'Oréal Paris for posting on Instagram that they stood in solidarity with the Black community, saying that she had never received an apology from L'Oréal. In response, the company announced that they would create and appoint Bergdorf to a U.K. Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board.[29] Bergdorf shared on Instagram a number of abusive messages she received on that platform following her appointment.[30]