Feb. 13 (UPI) — Burberry came under fire Sunday for confusing British actors Dev Patel and Riz Ahmed.
The London-based fashion house apologized after mistaking the 26-year-old Lion star and 34-year-old Rogue One: A Star Wars actor in a tweet from the 2017 BAFTA Awards.
“We apologize unreservedly for the incorrectly titled pictures of Dev Patel and Riz Ahmed posted late last night,” a spokesperson for the brand told The Huffington Post U.K.
“This was a mistake that should not have happened and was corrected immediately. We have apologized directly to Dev and Riz. We are checking our processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” the rep said.
Burberry had shared a since-deleted photo of Ahmed in his Burberry suit and called him “Role winner #DevPatel” in the caption. The blunder angered many fans, who criticized the fashion house on social media.
“Burberry just confused @RizMC for Dev Patel because all brown people look the same? This is why we need to diversify our media,” one person tweeted in response.
Burberry followed up by tweeting new photos of Patel and Ahmed with correct captions. Patel won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Lion, which also took home Best Adapted Screenplay at the annual awards ceremony.
Patel was previously nominated for a BAFTA for Slumdog Millionaire, and will next star in the movie Hotel Mumbai. Ahmed is known for the HBO series The Night Of, and has also appeared on The OA and Girls.
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