Dolce & Gabbana advert completely ruined my career, says Chinese model Zuo Ye as she breaks her silence over race row
- Model breaks silence over ‘racially insensitive’ commercial that showed her trying to eat pizza and pasta with chopsticks
- Zuo Ye says she would never do anything to insult China, but points out she had no control over the content of the advert that triggered a consumer boycott
The Chinese model who appeared in a Dolce & Gabbana advertisement that triggered a major backlash over accusations of racial stereotyping has broken her silence to apologise for her part in the commercial, adding that it had “completely ruined” her career.
Two months after the saga, Zuo Ye, a recent graduate of South China Agricultural University, wrote on the social media network Weibo on Monday that she had not given enough thought to the content of the video and felt “very guilty and ashamed” about the ensuing uproar.
“Personally I would never show any disrespect to my motherland. I love my country and feel proud to be able to represent China on the catwalk,” wrote Zuo. “I will draw a lesson from this and show the Chinese in a better light. Again, I apologise to my fellow countrymen.”
The three videos featuring Zuo, in a red D&G dress, struggling to use chopsticks to eat pizza, spaghetti and a giant version of a cannoli pastry was designed to promote the Italian fashion powerhouse’s campaign “DG Loves China” ahead of a fashion show in Shanghai last November.
But the campaign backfired after it provoked widespread accusations of racism. The row then snowballed into a major PR crisis for the Italian fashion brand after screenshots of a social media message sent by its co-founder Stefano Gabbana, in which he apparently described China as a “country of s***”, were leaked.