You may or may not know Vanessa Hessler. Even though she was born in America, most of her modeling success has come overseas. If you have spent even ten minutes in Germany though, you probably know exactly who she is. She is the face of the largest telecommunications company in Germany and has her face plastered every few feet across the country. She is also in Italy and France where she is known as Alice. Until now. The model was interviewed by an Italian magazine and in the interview she talked about her four year relationship with Mutassim Gaddafi who was killed the same day as his father. She said the Gaddafi's were totally normal and that she loved being with them and they were great people. She said that the rebels did not know what they were doing and that she supported the Gaddafis. Well, so much for that modeling career. The telecommunications giant Telefonica fired her in a Tweet. They said she could always say whatever she wants but that they cannot accept her comments. Hope she has some savings.
I'm no Gaddafi supporter, but it's pretty sad in this day and age that you can't say what you think without some overreaction PC aftermath. And not for nothing, but is the whole world really certain that the "rebels" who took down Gaddafi are not just the next generation of dictators/killers/bullies? So much hypocrisy in this world.
ReplyDeleteShe's entitled to her opinion which, I am sure, comes from her personal interaction with that family. Personally, I think her timing was piss poor.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that she could not speak her mind but anyone who is the face of a company can be fired if the company decides that you are not right for their image, for whatever reason.
ReplyDeletebottom line: if someone is paying you to be their "brand/face" STFU and do your job. they are paying you to promote them not you.
ReplyDeletehope her blood money diamonds keep her warm at night.
ReplyDeletethankyouverymuch.
I think it's horrible that an American thinks the Ghadafi family is misunderstood, after all the horrible things this man has done...but this girl is still entitled to her opinion. It has nothing to do with her job. So much for freedom of speech. You're now entitled to your opinion, as long as you agree with everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI think she is entitled to her opinion, but her bosses are also entitled to theirs and to hire someone who promotes their desired corporate image. My big fear in with Gaddafi gone al Queda (I'm sure I misspelled that) will take over. They are exactly ambassadors of free speech and democracy either. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat should have been they "aren't" above.
ReplyDeleteEverybody wins in this situation, as far as I'm concerned. She has the right to say whatever the damn hell she wants, and that corporation has the right to decide that she is not the appropriate face for their ad campaign if they want. People forget that our rights also come with responsibilities (and consequences).
ReplyDeleteAs for Libya, yeah they are working towards a 'democracy' of sorts, but it was a Muslim country before and it will be a Muslim country going forward. The rebels have pretty much said their new constitution will be set up under Sharia law.
It has nothing to do with her job???
ReplyDeleteYou've got to be kidding! It's quite clear that she had to be fired because with her stupid comments (she even cried in that interview) she belittled the countless victims of Gaddafi's dictatorship. You can't be serious if you think that any company would have kept her.
And what is it with the freedom of speech crap? If you want to be allowed to say what you want, you then also should be prepared to deal with the consequences.
If she was smart she would have said no comment. End of interview.
ReplyDeleteI aggree with many of the other commenters. Yes she can definitely say whatever she wants to say (freedom of speech), but the company she works for also has the freedom to decide that she is no longer what they want representing them. The whole Freedom of Speech thing does not protect you from being fired. It protects you from being imprisoned by the government (unless you yell fire in a theater and create a panic). Big difference people!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm guessing she had a contract that stipulated what kind of behaviour they needed for her to remain as that "face" and she broke it. If she broke it, she broke it.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the freedom to speak one's mind comes the necessity of dealing with the consequences. Nobody, not even family, not even a corporation, is obligated to continue to associate with anyone whose acts or words they find distasteful.
ReplyDeleteThat's the flip side both to running off one's mouth and thoughtful, committed acts of conscience: people who disagree with you may opt to exercise some freedom of their own by freeing themselves of their association with you.
I find it curious that most people's reaction to this is "freedom of speech" but when Hilary Swank and others were paid to attend birthday parties, etc of unsavory characters, people talked about them like they were the most horrible people in the world...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWait, wait, wait. No, she DOES NOT have freedom of speech in Germany. For example, the government could prohibit her from saying Nazi things (remember e-Bay getting sued in France because Nazi memorabilia was being sold, which is illegal in France?)
ReplyDeleteIn the US, she could stand up there and say, for example, that she is proud that her ancestors were traitors and treasonous and killed other Americans to perpetuate slavery (or just fly a stars and bars, same thing), and she couldn't be prosecuted. You can say the most hateful things in the U.S., and the government can't prosecute you, except in narrow circumstances. Not so in other countries, including Germany.
So my Professor is the co-founder of Project Censored, a huge online media source that takes news from all over the world and cuts all the bullshit out and gives it to you free of bias.
ReplyDeleteHe told me that while Gaddafi did bad things he WAS trying to do some good for his people, almost similiar to Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan prez. And he had surrendered and still they shot him like a rat in a sewer. When I exclaimed, "yeah but his own people shot him!"
My professor shook his head, chastized me for getting my media from local news sources that are EXTREMELY BIAS (dont believe me? look at USA's stance of Chavez being an enemy of America, when really Bush hated him because he wouldnt let big oil buisness continue to marginal his people) anyway, the people that shot Gaddafi were Al Qaeda trained...so it's really fishier than it at first appears.
I think we have to ask why so many people wanted Gaddafi gone in the first place, globally I mean. Yes, definitely NOT a good dude, BUT there is more to this than just simply painting him as a dictator and someone deserving of death.
I dont agree with the way that he was killed. I wish he would have been tried and sentenced for the crimes against humanity that he committed. Look at the speeches he gave (without bias or comments by others - just his own words) and it was pretty clear he had absolutely no regard for human life (or, as he called them, "rats"). That said - yeah, she can say whatever she wants. And she will have to deal with the aftermath of losing her job.
ReplyDeleteSounds like she should read Mask of Sanity. I think that's what she's dealing with and just doesn't understand. Models aren't exactly scholars, in most cases. Fired from Telefonica is HUGE!
ReplyDelete