Star Wars actor John Boyega has been cut out of a Jo Malone ad reshoot for the Chinese market, an advertisement he originally directed, concepted and starred in.
Boyega’s short film for the perfumer as its Jo Malone London Gent, which would go on to win a Fragrance Foundation Award for Best Media Campaign, replaced Boyega with Chinese actor Liu Haoran. The company has since apologised.
Saying that it recognised it “was painful and that offence was caused” to The Hollywood Reporter, the brand described the move as a “misstep.” Boyega’s original video was an homage to his Peckham upbringing, featuring his real friends and family.
The new version featuring Haoran did not feature any Black people. It also recreated a number of shots Boyega directed, with some including shots of Haoran on a white horse as people cycled around him, as well as the beginning and ending flashback transition.
While Boyega’s version of the advert had a deep emotional connection to Boyega’s roots as he recalled the sights and smells of Peckham, the new version featuring Haoran instead saw the actor recall a dinner with a table setting full of Jo Malone products.
The Hollywood Reporter claims that Boyega did not know about the new localised reshoot of the ad and only found out about it through social media.
Jo Malone said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We deeply apologise for what, on our end, was a mistake in the local execution of the John Boyega campaign. John is a tremendous artist with great personal vision and direction. The concept for the film was based on John’s personal experiences and should not have been replicated.”
"While we immediately took action and removed the local version of the campaign, we recognize that this was painful and that offense was caused. We respect John, and support our partners and fans globally,” it continued. “We are taking this misstep very seriously and we are working together as a brand to do better moving forward."
This is not the first time that Boyega’s role has been diminished in marketing materials for a mainland Chinese audience.
In 2015, a Chinese poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens drew controversy after Boyega was shrunk down and moved lower down in comparison to other versions of the poster, where he had a prominent position alongside his co-star Daisy Ridley.
