L’Oreal on Ash-Sonam War

The Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Sonam Kapoor L’Oreal-Cannes-Red Carpet War seems to have gone from bad to worse. As a quick reminder, Kapoor, who is the new youth face for L’Oreal, was scheduled to the join the likes of Aishwarya, Penelope Cruz, Naomi Lenoir, Andie MacDowell, Beyonce Knowles, Laetitia Casta, Kerry Washington, Milla Jovovich, Michelle Yeoh, Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. However, if stories are to be believed, Ash was not pleased by L’Oreal’s decision to include young and beautiful Sonam in the festival claiming that Kapoor was the “Indian representative” while Ash was the international face. And thus, Kapoor was told to stay home instead.


After careful observation, L’Oreal issued the following Press Release on the 16th of May attempting to clear all misinterpretations:

“We do not want to take part in or encourage any controversy involving our spokespeople. There were adverse reports in certain sections of media after some comments by Sonam Kapoor, which were presented out of context.

Following this, in order to avoid further escalation, we have advised Sonam not to go to Cannes as was planned earlier, bearing in mind that there would be more interesting opportunities for future appearances in Europe for her. L'Oreal is extremely mindful of protecting the image of its spokespeople, in the same way as it expects them to respect its own image. L'Oreal celebrates its 100th year of beauty this June and prides itself in the beauty and diversity of its spokespeople worldwide.”