British model Lily Cole issued an apology after a backlash ensued against her for posting a photo of herself donning a burqa and calling for “diversity” as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.
The 33-year-old actress and activist posted a picture of herself on Instagram wearing a blue burqa covering her face and body. (RELATED: Afghan Women Dread Islamist Radicalism, Wearing Burqas As Taliban Takes Over Kabul)
She captioned her post, “Let’s embrace diversity on every level – biodiversity; cultural diversity; diversity of thinking; diversity of voices; diversity of ideas.” The comments were noted by the BBC in a piece published Tuesday. (RELATED: ‘Dragged’: Meghan McCain Blasts ‘Every Single Person In Biden Administration’ Over Fall Of Kabul)
She made the post after the Taliban had taken over the capital city of Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan in a very short amount of time. In the same post she promoted her new book “Who Cares Wins,” about climate and ecological crisis. The post has since been deleted but can be seen below.
Lily Cole & the vacuity of modern hashtag-feminism. Putting Instagram posturing before universal human rights. I bet Afghan women are celebrating the “diversity” of wearing this shroud. pic.twitter.com/5unfIZrqXg
— Janice Turner (@VictoriaPeckham) August 16, 2021
The model was called out for her “publicity stunt” to sell her book and not understanding that a burqa wasn’t a “fashion accessory.”
The Taliban previously forced women to wear them in the 1990s when they were in control, the Guardian noted.
“You can’t embrace diversity if you are still the white woman dressing in ethnic clothing,” Aisha Ali-Khan, a media commentator wrote. “That’s not embracing diversity.”
Anjum Peerbacos, co-founder of the Hijabi Half-Hour podcast, called the images “disrespectful” and said it’s “not a fashion accessory to be able to be deployed as a publicity stunt.”
“So for her to use it as what can only be described as a publicity stunt, I think is abhorrent and really displays to us her level of ignorance with regards to it,” she added.
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Cole later deleted her post and said she hadn’t been aware of the news of the day, saying her post was “ill-timed.” (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Biden Predicts Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan Is ‘Not Inevitable’)
“This week, I posted an old photo of me wearing a burqa loaned to me by a friend, as she pointed out I was undermining its original purpose by wearing it with my face exposed, but I understand why the image has upset people and want to sincerely apologize for any offence caused,” Lily shared in an Instagram Story, the outlet noted.
“I hadn’t read the news at the time I posted so it was incredibly ill-timed (thank you for pointing that out to me),” she added, as she shared how her “heart breaks reading about what is happening in Afghanistan at the moment” and said she was “looking for organizations helping women on the ground” she could “support.”
The Taliban took control of the capital of Afghanistan the weekend of Aug. 14-15 as thousands of U.S. troops were sent in to evacuate Americans at the U.S. embassy.