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Belgian World Cup beauty loses modelling contract

Axelle Despiegelaere, the Belgian teenager who was offered a modelling contract with cosmetics company L’Oreal after a World Cup image of her went viral, has had her contract cancelled.

Teen Axelle Despiegelaere has attracted criticisms for hunting an Oryx Gazelle in Africa and posting it on Facebook. (Image: Facebook)

Teen model Axelle Despiegelaere has attracted criticisms for hunting an Oryx Gazelle in Africa and posting it on Facebook. (Image: Facebook)

An image of the young beauty smiling as she kneels next to a slain gazelle in Africa, a rifle slung over her shoulder, has become the teenager's second internet sensation in as many weeks.

The post on her Facebook page read: "Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that ... this was about 1 year ago … ready to hunt americans today haha.”

The image created a social media backlash and on Saturday, L'Oréal announced that it would cut ties with its new hair model.

Despiegelaere, 17, became suddenly famous after she was picked out by television cameras at the Belgium v USA World Cup game. Her image landed in newspapers all over the world.

L’Oreal called her “the most beautiful supporter of the World Cup” on their Facebook fan page. However the company has now made a statement to The Independent that Despiegelaere's "contract has now been completed."

Despiegelaere apologised in the comments section of her post, saying “i didn’t mean to offend anyone..it was a joke.”


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