// Jo Malone apologises to actor John Boyega for axing his scene from Chinese ad
// The ad replaced Boyega with Chinese actor Liu Haoran
Jo Malone has “deeply apologised” to Star Wars actor John Boyega after cutting his scene out of a Chinese advert he helped create.
The ad, which was shown in China, had featured Boyega walking around Peckham, the London neighbourhood where he grew up.
However, the British actor’s scene was replaced by Chinese actor Liu Haoran.
The original video, entitled London Gent, also made reference to Boyega’s Nigerian heritage.
Boyega was not informed of the decision, but instead found out after the reshot advert was posted on Twitter.
“We deeply apologise for what, on our end, was a mistake in the local execution of the John Boyega campaign,” Jo Malone said.
“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.”
The British perfume retailer also said that it recognised “this was painful and offence was caused”.
“We respect John, and support our partners and fans globally. We are taking this misstep very seriously and we are working together as a brand to do better moving forward.”
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