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Chinese model who featured in controversial Dolce & Gabbana ad issues apology

Chinese model who featured in controversial Dolce & Gabbana ad issues apology

Dolce and Gabbana

International luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana has not been able to come out of the “racism” controversy that led to them cancelling their show in China. Now after more than two months later when the controversy erupted, the Chinese model who featured in the said advertisements has issued an apology for her part in it.

The model Zuo Ye, in a lengthy post on the Weibo social media platform, wrote: "For not properly interpreting the proper way of holding chopsticks, I express my deepest regret. I appreciate the fact that this isn't just my personal action, but that I am representing the image of our country, and of Chinese culture so I am racked with guilt, deeply apologetic, and will definitely improve my decorum in future."

It all started with a promotional video for the brand in which Zuo featured as a girl who was shown eating pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks -- that came across as culturally insensitive.

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It gained momentum after the Italian fashion firm posted short clips on Instagram showing the promotional clip. The critics found the video offensive to Chinese culture.

Right after the video surfaced, Zuo said she received online threats which also extended to her agent, family and friends.

On the video, she added not knowing if the video would be edited in such a way. She further wrote: "I will learn well from this incident, and in future present Chinese culture in a better manner.”

This chaos led to Dolce & Gabbana being forced to cancel a fashion show in Shanghai. They even had to issue an apology statement in which they even claimed that Gabbana's account had been hacked.

This is the announcement they made: