A Russian TV star denied holding racist views after she was fired as a brand ambassador to Audi after Instagram post controversy

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A Russian TV star denied holding racist views after she was fired as a brand ambassador to Audi after Instagram post controversy
Russian TV star Ksenia Sobchak.Getty Images / ALEXANDER NEMENOV / Contributor
  • Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian TV star with over 7 million followers on Instagram has denied accusations of holding racist views after she was fired as a brand ambassador for Audi.
  • Part of a recent Instagram post said: "You have to work your f--king ass off to succeed like your Naomi Campbells ... the rest will always find excuses for their own laziness and stupidity."
  • She also said "guilt is a thief's greatest weapon," suggesting that US protesters against racial inequality were using it to get things they didn't deserve.
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A Russian TV star with more than 7 million followers on Instagram has denied accusations of holding racist views after she was fired as a brand ambassador for Audi.

Ksenia Sobchak, who is 38, had her contract with the car manufacturer terminated on June 24. It came after Audi said it would investigate her following a controversial post.

In the Instagram post dated June 4, Sobchak had written about the Black Lives Matter protests in the US that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

The post is in Russian. Translated into English, it says: "[Y]ou have to work your f--king ass off to succeed like your Naomi Campbells, your Obamas, your [Oprah] Winfreys. The rest will always find excuses for their own laziness and stupidity."

She suggested that protesters were using guilt as a way to achieve favorable treatment they would not otherwise deserve.

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Люди не любят думать. Им легче думать толпой. Так безопаснее-никакой ответственности. В карусели -кадры того, как «борцы за справедливость» громят магазин @hermes ,а моя подруга тщетно пытается вызвать полицию. При этом главные редакторы доживающих свой век журналов, уважаемые деятели фэшн индустрии, продолжают херачить черные квадратики у себя в инстаграмме. То есть другими словами,они говорят своим прямым (!!) рекламодателям : «ну подумаешь,вам разгромили ваш бизнес,вы ж еще заработаете,а люди негодуют, за права чернокожих борятся». Чувство вины-самое серьезное оружие вора. И вот уже сегодняшние белые талантливые парни, которые не поступят в Лигу Плюща только потому,что там есть специальные «квоты» для черных ,должны гордо нести вину своих предков (а может и не своих ,но кого это интересует?). В погоне за справедливостью почему-то всегда совершается еще большая несправедливость. То ,что происходит сейчас в Америке -это лишнее доказательство ,что сколько людям не давай свободы и прав -если эти люди неуспешны,они всегда найдут на кого свалить свой неуспех. Те,кто сумел осознать ,что для успеха нужно «вьебывать», давно стали уже условными Наоми Кэмбел,Обамой и Уинфри. Остальные же всегда найдут оправдание себе и своей лени и глупости.

A post shared by Ксения Собчак (@xenia_sobchak) on Jun 4, 2020 at 2:59pm PDT

In the Instagram post, she wrote:

"Guilt is a thief's greatest weapon. Nowadays some white people don't get into the Ivy League because there are special "quotas" for Black people. Whites are supposed to bear the guilt of their ancestors with pride (maybe even that of their non-ancestors, but who cares?) ... what just happened in the US is further proof that no matter how much freedom or rights people have, these people will always find someone to blame for their failures. Those who have succeeded understand that you have to work your f--king ass off to succeed like your Naomi Campbells, your Obamas, your [Oprah] Winfreys. The rest will always find excuses for their own laziness and stupidity."

(Sobchak's claim that there are racial quotas in the Ivy League is inaccurate — African-Americans remain underrepresented in US elite universities, according to The New York Times.)

Sobchak denied that the content of that post was racist in a Facebook post attacking Business Insider Deutschland, an entity that is separately owned by Axel Springer DE, which had reported on the contents of the post.

In the Facebook post dated June 24, also in Russia, Sobchak said that the suggestion she is racist was "a straight lie." She also threatened Business Insider Deutschland with legal action.

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Business Insider and Business Insider Deutschland are editorially independent, though both outlets translate and republish some of the other's articles.

Sources at Audi told Business Insider Deutschland that Sobchak's statements on Instagram had been a subject of concern for weeks.

After being contacted by Business Insider Deutschland about the June 4 post, a spokesperson for the Audi Group said: "In principle, Audi AG strictly rejects any form of racism and discrimination, as this is not compatible with our corporate culture. We take every indication of a possible violation very seriously and investigate it, as in this case."

"The brand ambassador contract with Xenija Sobchak will be terminated by Audi."

(Xenija is an alternative spelling for Ksenia which is common in Germany.)

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The spokesperson didn't offer further details but did say that the decision was made before Sobchak's most recent posts.

Sobchak is a famous figure in Russia, one of its most prominent TV presenters. She has hosted her own show, Sobchak Live, and a Russian version of a Top Model-style reality show.

She is the daughter of former St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, who is now a political adviser to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

She has an extensive media career which includes modeling for Playboy. In 2018 she campaigned for election as president against Putin, framing herself as a protest candidate, but won less than 2% of the vote.

Previous reports in Russian media have highlighted other controversial posts by Sobchak.

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Outlets including Gazeta and Meduza reported on a post that appeared to mock the Black Lives Matter movement by posting a satirical take on the black square posts which flooded Instagram after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The post has since been deleted. According to Russian magazine Wonderzine, a Russian pop song called "Ubili Negra" was playing in the background of the post which means "they killed a Black man."

The song is controversial in Russia: according to the band, its intention is to condemn police violence in the US. The lyrics, though, are peppered with racist clichés. The song has been sung in Russia with altered lyrics which say "They killed a Black man, we don't care."

The post was part of a stunt for the YouTube game show "Comment Out," according to Meduza.

According to Wonderzine, Sobchak posted a video from a restaurant in a luxury hotel in the Maldives on Instagram in 2019.

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According to Wonderzine's report, in the video she referred to a Black waiter as a "slave".

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