Yesterday, Adut Akech took to Instagram calling out WHO Magazine, which mistakenly identified her as Flavia Lazarus after being interviewed for a feature. The model says she felt "disrespected" after the issue came out.
Ahead of Melbourne Fashion Week, Akech addressed during her interview with the publication on how the world views people of color and refugees because she herself was raised in a Kenyan refugee camp and later migrated to Adelaide. When she realized that Lazarus’ photo was mistaken for hers, she called the situation “unacceptable and inexcusable under any circumstances.” Akech continued in her caption saying:
“Not only do I personally feel insulted and disrespected but I feel like my entire race has been disrespected too and it is why I feel it is important that I address this issue. Whoever did this clearly the thought that was me in that picture and that’s not okay. This is a big deal because of what I spoke about in my interview.”
Akech’s intentions were not to create any tension, but she felt the express how she felt to the public. She then addressed the fashion industry saying, “Australia you’ve a lot of work to do and you’ve got to do better and that goes to the rest of the industry.”
According to BBC, after the model posted her photo and caption on Instagram, WHO Magazine reached out to apologize to Adut, saying it had been "given the wrong picture by the agency that set up the interview." OPR said in a statement quoted by ABC: "The error was administrative and unintentional and we sincerely apologize for this mistake and any upset it has caused to the models involved, and our client the City of Melbourne."
Melbourne Fashion Week also posted an apology on its Instagram page: "We are extremely disappointed that a photo of one of our campaign models, Flavia Lazarus, was mistakenly printed instead of a photo of Adut."
Unfortunately, instances like this have occurred in the past. During a 2017 Emmys telecast of a red carpet show, the Television Academy had mistakenly identified musical director Rickey Minor as RuPaul.
In other entertainment news, here’s a first look at Emma Stone as Cruella De Vil.
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