L’Occitane promised to tighten its commitment to upholding privacy following a leakage incident involving an employee and SEVENTEEN Mingyu.
On Tuesday, the French luxury beauty brand issued its official statement through L’Occitane Korea after one of its employees uploaded topless photos of its ambassador. Mingyu has been working with the brand since May 2024 as its Asian representative.
The behind-the-scenes snaps of the K-pop idol were taken during filming for one of its campaigns' commercials. However, the staff invaded the star's privacy by not only using their personal gadget to take photos but also posting it as well without Mingyu's consent.
When the employee received massive backlash from CARATs (SEVENTEEN fandom), L’Occitane released an apology and revealed that they already suspended the employee.
"We sincerely apologize for the recent incident involving the unauthorized release of photos from the L’Occitane Asia Ambassador campaign, which were improperly distributed on the personal social media account of one of our employees. We acknowledge that there is no excuse for this breach and fully accept responsibility for what has occurred," stated the brand's Korean headquarters.
READ ALSO: Mingyu of Kpop Group Seventeen Announced as L'Occitane's First Brand Ambassador for Asia
The luxury house attested that this incident will not happen again, moving forward, by providing a comprehensive and regular training program for all of its employees that includes topics on respecting copyrights, portrait and publicity rights as well as the privacy of its ambassadors.
Despite the apology, CARATs are frustrated that the employee was only suspended and not terminated, calling out L’Occitane to make them delete all of Mingyu's photos on their phone as well.
RELATED ARTICLE: aespa's Karina Is Musinsa Beauty's New Ambassador; K-Pop Idol to Lead 'Festa' Campaign