Less than a week after L'Oréal proudly unveiled the company's first model who wears a hijab, Amena Khan stepped down over old social media posts in which she called Israelis "child-murderers."
In a statement announcing the new ad campaign, L'Oréal hailed Khan as an "authentic" voice who would be part of "a unique and disruptive campaign for the haircare market, a category which in previous years has been perceived as the cliché of beauty advertising."
The Paris-based cosmetics company was widely praised for the move, earning positive coverage in CNN, HuffPost, and the BBC, as well as fashion magazines like Vogue and Glamour.
But Israelis and others on social media were not as enthralled after uncovering several tweets dating back to 2014 in which Khan called Israel "an illegal state" and "a sinister state."
"Israel = Pharoah. Both are child murderers. Insha'Allah, defeat also awaits the former; it's only a matter of time," read one now-deleted tweet.
Khan apologized for her tweets in a statement on Monday and announced that she would no longer represent L'Oréal.
"I deeply regret the content of the tweets I made in 2014, and sincerely apologize for the upset and hurt that they have caused," she wrote.
"Championing diversity is one of my passions, I don't discriminate against anyone. I have chosen to delete them as they do not represent the message of harmony that I stand for," she explained.
— Amena (@amenaofficial) January 22, 2018