Activist and actress Jameela Jamil took to Instagram to publicly slam the celebrities who attended this year’s Met Gala, where late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld- who was a controversial figure for his many sexist and racist comments- was honoured.
Lagerfeld had been outspoken against allowing curvy women to pose for magazines or model, in response to women’s magazine ‘Bridgette’ when the publication announced that they would only publish pictures of real women instead of models:
“You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly. The world of beautiful clothing is about ‘dreams and illusions’.”
Lagerfeld had also been a vocal opponent of the #MeToo movement, speaking to Numero in 2018 after three models accused the creative director of Chanel of sexual harassment:
“If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model! Join a nunnery, there’ll always be a place for you in the convent.”
Jamil criticised the celebrities who had been vocal about social issues like #MeToo movement and body positivity for refusing to call out the controversial legacy of the late ‘Chanel’ fashion designer:
“Last night Hollywood and fashion said the quiet part out loud when a lot of famous feminists chose to celebrate at the highest level, a man who was so publicly cruel to women, to fat people, to immigrants and to sexual assault survivors. And all the women’s publications, and spectators online, chose to gleefully ignore it. Suddenly your appetite to find someone’s tweets from when they were 12, has gone.”
The ‘Good Place’ actor went on to share that the selective cancel culture within liberal politics needs to stop, because it further erodes the trust people have in progressive politics that it will actually make a difference in the world:
“This isn’t about cancel culture. Its not even about Karl. It’s about showing how selective cancel culture is within liberal politics, in the most blatant way so far. It’s about showing why people don’t trust liberals. Because of slippery tactics and double standards like this.”
