For decades, cosmetic giant L’Oreal Paris has been almost synonymous with the Cannes Film Festival. The brand has been a sponsor of the prestigious film festival, bringing some of the world’s top stars to the red carpet for years. Among the biggest L’Oreal ambassadors at Cannes over the past 20 years has been Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai, a regular on the Cannes red carpet. So it was strange when L’Oreal unveiled its ambassadors at Cannes’ Le Martinez Hotel with giant banner posters this week, and Aishwarya was absent.
Aishwarya missing from L’Oreal promotions at Cannes
The six posters included other major L’Oreal ambassadors, including another Indian star, Alia Bhatt, but Aishwarya was conspicuously absent. L’Oreal Paris shared the visual on their Instagram account, writing, “Consider this L’Oréal Paris’s official check-in, Le Martinez is officially home for the Festival.” However, the comments were filled with Aishwarya Rai fans questioning her absence from the promotions. “Where’s the mother of Cannes #AishwaryaRaiBachchan,” asked one. Another added, “It’s too much! This time, L’Oreal is going overboard. The poster doesn’t feature a legend like Aishwarya, who made the L’Oreal brand popular across the entire Asian continent, but instead highlights some actresses who are just two days old!” One even went as far as to say, “I’m sorry but Aishwarya Rai will forever be much bigger than Alia Bhatt.”