It was a true Katherine Webb story. Axelle Despiegelaere, a 17-year-old Belgian soccer fan, boasted her national colors for a big World Cup match. Cameras caught the blonde beauty clad in red, yellow and black, and her pictures spread. While Belgium stormed through its group undefeated, Despiegelaere nabbed a modeling gig with L'Oreal.
And then she didn't.
On July 1, Despiegelaere released this picture on her Facebook page (recovered via screenshot by Business Insider):
The caption caused uproar, as fans felt she crossed the line. With the United States being a rather large market for L'Oreal, Despiegelaere found herself in some deep trouble. On Wedensday night, she edited the caption on the picture to read, "this was about a year ago…" It did not stop the bleeding, as her Facebook page became the prey of many critics.
On Thursday, Despiegelaere's Facebook page was gone. Buzzfeed reportedly reached out to L'Oreal and was told, "the company is no longer working with the teenager."
According to Buzzfeed, a L'Oreal spokesman said:
"Axelle de Spiegelaere is not one of L’Oréal Professionnel’s spokespeople. L’Oréal Professionnel Belgium collaborated with her on an ad hoc basis to produce a video for social media use in Belgium.
This has now been produced."
That is true. Despiegelaere did get this ad produced:
For reference, Belgium did win the Round of 16 match, 2-1, although Tim Howard and the USMNT showed Americans are not easy to hunt. The match was knotted at 0-0 through 90 minutes, and Clint Dempsey nearly tied the match at 2-2 late in the second half of extra time.
It is unclear if Despiegelaere (interesting how L'Oreal spelled her name differently) was released from an extended contract with L'Oreal or if she was only slotted to do one video all along. It is clear her modeling career took a hit.
[H/T Business Insider, Buzzfeed]
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
