British model and actress Lily Cole was slammed by her followers for offending the women of Afghanistan by posing in an Afghani burqa. The model posted two pictures on Instagram wearing a blue burqa, a traditional attire of Afghani women, while promoting her new book Who Care Wins: Reasons For Optimism in Our Changing World.
The post, which was later deleted by the model, had a picture of Lily with her face covered with a blue veil. The caption read, "It's out. Let's embrace diversity on every level: biodiversity; cultural diversity; diversity of thinking; diversity of voices; diversity of ideas," according to the Daily Mail.
During the Taliban rule in the 90s, women in Afghanistan had to wear blue burqas and cover their faces in public. Reports stated that Lily had posted the pictures to encourage followers to buy her book. But she received backlash due to her negligence towards the current situation of women in Afghanistan who have fallen under the oppressive and misogynistic rule of the Taliban.
Netizens accused her of insulting Afghani culture and slammed her for keeping popularity above humanity. She was also pointed out for posing with painted nails. The pictures were taken down after three days, reports stated.
Lily, who started her career as a model at the early age of 16, was listed as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s by Vogue Paris in 2009. She is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of Impossible People, a mobile app providing facilities to people and companies by providing them skills and services as needed.
The 33-year old model, also a mother to a 5-year old, has revealed herself as homosexual and discussed acknowledging diversity in her book Who Care Wins.
In her latest Instagram stories, Lily had sought a humble apology from the followers stating her posts as "incredibly ill-timed" and "undermining". She had borrowed the attire from her friend who later pointed out her inappropriate behavior, she said. Lily added that she was unaware of Afghanistan's current condition and would be looking for aids that could help the women of Afghanistan.
The Taliban seized control over Kabul on Sunday, which lead many Afghans to escape from the country, fearing for their lives.
