The former head of cosmetics giant L'Oréal, Lindsay Owen-Jones, has asked a court in France to shut down a chip stand near his apartment in the ski resort of Val d'Isère.

"/> The former head of cosmetics giant L'Oréal, Lindsay Owen-Jones, has asked a court in France to shut down a chip stand near his apartment in the ski resort of Val d'Isère.

" />
Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

L'OREAL

Ex-L’Oréal chief tries to shut chip stand

The former head of cosmetics giant L'Oréal, Lindsay Owen-Jones, has asked a court in France to shut down a chip stand near his apartment in the ski resort of Val d'Isère.

Published: 3 February 2012 02:23 CET
Ex-L'Oréal chief tries to shut chip stand
Nicholas B

Owen-Jones, a British citizen who led L’Oréal from 1988 to 2006, filed a complaint along with three neighbours in October asking a court in nearby Albertville to order the chip stand closed as a neighbourhood nuisance.

The complaint said the stand was a visual, auditory and olfactory nuisance and was violating local planning by-laws. The plaintiffs are also demanding compensation for a decrease in their property values.

“Of course rich people are bothered by having a chip stand in front of their homes, but some of us need to work for a living,” said the stand’s owner, Valerie Maertens.

“They complain about the noise and the smell of chips, but if you want peace and quiet, you don’t buy an apartment at the foot of the slopes,” she said.

Contacted by AFP, a lawyer for Owen-Jones refused to comment on the case.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

MODEL

L’Oreal drops trans model over controversial comments

French cosmetics giant L'Oreal on Friday confirmed it had dropped a British transgender model over comments the company deemed "at odds with our values," after she was hired as part of a diversity campaign.

Published: 2 September 2017 08:59 CEST
L'Oreal drops trans model over controversial comments
File photo: AFP

“L'Oreal champions diversity,” the beauty brand said on Twitter. “Comments by Munroe Bergdorf are at odds with our values and so we have decided to end our partnership with her”.

L'Oreal had tapped Bergdorf — a 29-year-old model, DJ and trans activist whose father is Jamaican — as one of the five newest faces of its #allworthit campaign to introduce the five new shades of its True Match face makeup.

The foundation make-up boasts 28 unique shades ranging from very light to dark brown in a bid to match the myriad different skin tones and textures of people worldwide.

According to British Vogue, Bergdorf was the first transgender woman to be featured in a L'Oreal Paris UK campaign.

But controversy erupted when Bergdorf took to Facebook in a now-deleted post to react to events in the US city of Charlottesville, where a woman was killed on August 12th after an avowed white supremacist rammed his car into a group of anti-racism counter-protesters.

“Honestly I don't have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people,” Bergdorf wrote, according to copies posted in British media.

“Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth… then we can talk,” the model reportedly wrote.

L'Oreal told British media it “remains committed to celebrating diversity and breaking down barriers in beauty”.

READ ALSO: Charlie Hebdo shocks (once again) with cover portraying Hurricane Harvey victims as neo-Nazis