Honestly, I’ve heard the name Devon Windsor before. I have no idea why or in what context, but I remember reading the name before and possibly even seeing her modeling photos before. Devon isn’t an A-list model, but she works regularly and she books some big runway gigs, like Victoria’s Secret. Devon is also part of the E! show Model Squad, about a group of working models and their glamorous/unglam lives. Apparently, on last week’s episode, a group of models were talking about diversity in the modeling industry. Devon is part of a group which includes several models of color, and they’re bonding about how difficult it is to get hired as a black or Asian woman for some runways or fashion weeks. What could have been a very real and interesting conversation about what those models of color face on a regular basis was quickly derailed by Devon Windsor. That’s all I’ll say, because you really just need to watch this unfold organically:
OMG. *dies laughing* “I literally f–king went through hell and literally lived in different countries every other month and didn’t speak that language, didn’t speak Paris, didn’t speak Italian, and I did that for two years.” When she’s told that no, not speaking “Paris” is not the same thing and Devon can’t really “relate” to what models of color go through, she replies, “You know how hard it is to be blonde? I have to get a highlight every month!” LMAO. That is such a blonde thing to say too – “YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO BE BLONDE?” while speaking to a black woman.
Anyway, Devon did apologize by posting this to her social media. It’s actually not the worst apology, although I do wonder about the “edited” part. People always claim that they were just edited to look racist/terrible/offensive but really… I wonder how hard the editors really had to try.
— devon windsor (@devwindsor) September 9, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Probably not biased or prejudiced, just stupid.
On another note, how is she a mode?l? She looks like a younger, blonde Teresa Guidici. Pretty, but that is not a model face.
she has a slightly different very narrow forehead, I’ve never seen that before.
I have to agree. Since she can’t “speak Paris”, I just think she’s dumb as a doornail and the subject is way over her highlighted head.
Her highlighted head 😂😂😂. I’m dying. My mom used to scold me about how much I highlighted my hair during high school in order to dye my hair pink. My mom used to said “that thing goes to your brain, be careful” Maybe she was right 😂😂😂
This seems like manufactured controversy to get publicity for their show
My bet also.
Ooh, well spotted. I agree.
Wow, you couldn’t get me to fake racism for ratings. I’d rather stay poor & out of work.
Stupid or not, I am tired of these güeritas and their mouths.
I’m tired of being patient with other peoples’ learning curves. If you know nothing, then zip it and listen. Listen and learn.
How hard is that?
Neither is a Karlie Kloss’ a “model face”, but she has a great body and height. Sometimes, that’s all that’s wanted.
This is in response to Naptime’s comparison with Teresa Giudici. I thought the same thing immediately! That extremely low -to-missing forehead looks weird & not in a good way – rather simian.
I think the “jolie lade” ugly beautiful has been a reaction to the symmetrical supermodels of the 80s. I dont like this woman’s real or feigned racism, but I do like her “looks”. However it’s likely she’s ruined her career, so who cares.
My stylist that used to work with models answered this same question I had once – it’s not about facial features necessarily, but how the model’s structure is. Perhaps she is a T-shape or a classic hourglass shape, but the designers look for different types to highlight their designs adequately, and that forever changed my perspective.
Yup just seems dumb to me.
At what point will people stop excusing racist, privileged and insensitive remarks for being “just dumb”. Aren’t all racists “just dumb”? Isn’t being that willfully ignorant and insensitive as damaging as being an overt racist. The affects on PoCs are the same.
I think we as a society need to demand for models not only be above certain weight but also over certain age when they start modeling. Highlighteverymonth clearly could have used a year or two more of school education.
She’s not stupid! She might not be able to speak Paris, but that doesn’t make her stoopid.
No one is forcing you to be blond sweetie.
I wonder if that was the point she was poorly trying to make? That she feels pressure to be blonde by societal standards of beauty and that’s the only way she can relate to them/ make an example in her life as to how these pressures affect her? That would make her stupid but not prejudiced ya know? I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt here – she should have taken this chance to shut up and listen but here we are.
Bleachbag gives blondes a bad name.
Right lol
I actualy laughted out loud when I saw this headline. So there is that upside. But then if you are a dum dum who can’t put two and two together, it is indeed quite hard to function in a society.
This could have been an interesting conversation. All she had to say was ‘you’re right. I can’t relate. But I do want to listen.’ That’s it. I hate how people feel like they have to top each other’s difficult experiences in order to show they care. The fact is if you’re white you do not know what it is like to be a woman or person of Colour in any industry. But I don’t think it was out of meaness or bias. I think the ‘I don’t speak Paris’ comment suggests ignorance and stupidity as the underlying problem here. As Oprah says; is it a teachable moment?
Maybe an attempt at humor? If she spent more than 10 minutes there, she’d know they speak “French.”
I honestly think she was trying to be jokey as in “yes, you’re right but before this heavy convo is completely over lemme try to be funny to make vibe lighter”.
Too bad for her that it’s a great sound byte though. Of course it was going to be included in the final clip. You can tell with the way this was edited that her snippets are out of place with the more serious parts of the conversation.
This is a non-story.
She sounds like she has very few brain cells
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
She’s a living blonde joke. I love it.
Ikr? Hahaha!
I don’t speak Paris either. But I was in Paris last May and locals were really nice to me when I apoligize for not speaking French and many of them spoke fluent English.
But back to diversity… I apologize for not understanding the struggles of getting highlights every month. It must be expensive, sorry.
Its insanely expensive. And that chick could lay off the bleach for a spell. I will never understand why ANYone wants fried blonde hair … thats all it ever is to me. I’ve never seen blonde hair that doesnt look like baked straw. Have at it ladies.
Heck I hope mine doesn’t lol
Jillie – it probably doesn’t.
Cheaping out and not taking care of chemical treated hair whether it’s highlights, dye, whatever is going to give you hair that doesn’t look good. But if you’re getting it done, the products are good, the stylist knows what they’re doing, and you’re taking care of it at home, then it’s probably fine. I had to go really light blonde to be able to get a bright blue ombre – my hair isn’t fried.
Olaplex is also a god-send for stylists because it really does a great job at protecting and somewhat fixing the hair. “Our simple three-step process includes a patented active ingredient that works on a molecular level to seek out broken bonds in the hair that are caused by chemical, thermal, and mechanical damage. You can use Olaplex to restore compromised hair, or add it to another service to provide the ultimate breakage insurance.”
Now, I take the time and do deep conditioning and heat protect and things like that, which definitely make a difference. But despite the amount they had to lift my hair, it still feels great.
lol I used to highlight my dark hair very blonde. It was hella expensive and time consuming, and all the colour correcting shampoo was hella annoying! I didn’t even last a year as a blonde before i was back to my very dark hair. I don’t know what possessed me to do it honnestly. waste of money, time and brain cells.
I was four years old the last time that I was blonde, but I’ve needed a lifetime of therapy to get over the trauma….
It’s ok to mock women here as long as they are blonde and white.
#NotAFeminist
@Suki: I think you missed the point of many of the comments. It is not the fact she is white and blonde. It is the fact that she is unable to understand and sympathize with the struggles women of color face. She made herself the center of the conversation and a victim with two comments that are not diversity -related struggles. If someone is telling about struggles that you are not aware, listen first…
If she wanted to say:” I have struggled living abroad and financially due to X, Y and Z. But I cannot imagine what you have to go through on top of that” (as many models have to live elsewhere at a young age with almost no money and in places where they might not speak the language). She came across as a self-centered and ignorant.
@Malificent, I’m a blonde who got your joke. 🙂
It seemed clear to me that the blonde model was joking. I didn’t think she was really trying to tell an Asian woman and a black woman that she has it harder. But her joke fell flat.
Also, I LOL’d at “I don’t speak Paris.” So she’s dumb regardless of her hair color.
She says she was joking and trying to add levity to the situation which is still totally inappropriate. This is what white people tend to do in conversations about race though, deflect and derail because they’re uncomfortable instead of actually listening and trying to understand what’s being said and why.
Great comment Tanesha.
Good point about humor as deflection from white folks. But I still just think this is more just a white girl who thinks that she’s a victim.
I couldn’t agree more.
It also made certain that in a room of WOC, her blonde self was the center of the attention. Nobody’s talking about race now (a real issue) but about her stupidity.
Exactly. If you’re white and want to be an ally with women of color, stop lecturing and grandstanding and just freaking LISTEN to what they have to say.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Even if she was trying to bring levity to the conversation, it was still inappropriate. Who does she think she is to try an make someone else’s pain amusing?!?
“I don’t speak Paris” pretty much sums up this one’s intellect.
Ahh, hear the sound of another barely known’s career tanking. And it’s funny because she’s the least striking model out of that whole group in the clip.
Can’t.
I got the impression she wanted to be included in their conversation and just nose-dived into stupidity. When people of color are talking about diversity and their experiences, she needs to sit down, shut up, listen, and ask questions.
I think she’s just dumb. The stupidity of this one isn’t just the pool she dove into it’s the jumping-off point as well.
I mean obviously what she said is dumb and shortsighted, but so is saying something is a “blonde thing to say” – obviously not to the same degree, but what a lame stereotype.
When I read the subject line I thought that that was where the conversation would have gone, how people assume blonde/beautiful people are stupid. Which happens, and is a bit disconcerting.
But no.
Take out “blonde” and substitute it with “white dude,” as in “that is such a white dude thing to say.” Did we just say “all white dudes talk like that?” or “all white dudes are Trump?” No. Logic.
I think it works here because we’re discussing a blonde woman trying to compare her experiences to that of WOC. Blonde-haired, blue eyed white women are the height of idealized white female beauty by which darker skinned women are always compared and degraded.
It is acceptable here – encouraged, really- to mock women, as long as they are white. Being blonde is icing on the cake of mockery. See any thread on Kate M for mockery of every aspect of her.
See Veronica S above justifying mocking through stereotypes. Typical.
@suki When blonde white women become a minority and start experiencing infringements on their civil rights/careers/livelihoods due to being blonde and white, please get back to me.
I’m actually a white woman, lol. Like, white enough that most foundation shades don’t carry colors light enough for me in the winter. And I, too, have spent a few years as a blonde. I survived them remarkably all right.
There are times when basic bitch logic can hide real misogyny behind mockery of white privilege. This is a case of a white woman using her “shared” femininity to undermine real issues of ethnic minorities. And you’re doing a great job of proving my point about how our white privilege undermines our arguments about sexism because we constantly derail conversations about race to make superficial arguments about women as whole, when the reality is we know damn well the experience of WOC is significantly different from our own.
People deserve to be mocked when they are making light of the struggles of POC. You are not a victim in this situation. The WOC who have to deal with the consequences of their struggles being marginalized are the ones we have compassion for. Stop having a navel gazing pity party.
Wow, is there some contest about providing the dumbest sound bite I haven’t heard about? She’s making a strong challenge against Bigly’s hurricanes are wet comment.
But look who’s president…he pretends he’s still blonde, too! Didn’t Feckless C*nt say he still uses “Just For Men” blonde, but can’t even sit the 5 min. to get the color right?
YES! I KNEW it: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5233035/Ivanka-reveals-secrets-dads-hair.html
While it is perfectly clear that the sequence was edited, I do believe they cut out even stupider and more offensive stuff.
She’s an idiot. And clearly her PR rep drafted the statement, as the person who doesn’t speak ‘Paris’ doesn’t know what ‘levity’ means.
Yeah, HIGHLY DOUBT “prejudicial,” “bias,” and/or “inclusion” is in her lexicon, either.
If she supposedly “knows the struggle…is not one to take lightly,” then why was “levity” deployed? Why is HER uncomfortableness (boredom, dullness) more important than the person’s (aggrevation, sadness, anger) speaking?
I think white people automatically try to relate their own experiences to a black person to signal that hey I’m on of you I’m human I get it. It’s much more uncomfortable to sit back and say I am privileged and you’re right. You do the talking -for once. do you think?
Yes, i agree. But the best thing to do I’ve found, is sit back and listen.
I mean, I think people in general try to relate their own experiences to other people because that’s the fundamental basis for all human social connection and we are evolutionarily wired to want connections … but yes, this leads to a lot of clueless (in this case IMPOSSIBLY clueless), inappropriate, flat-out wrong, hurtful, and bizarre equivalencies.
This.
Yes, this was my take. I also think she was trying to joke to lighten up the moment. Hopefully this will be a learning moment for others watching this clip that sometimes it’s okay to feel uncomfortable, and it’s important to find ways to show others you are listening to them rather than make a joke, or try to relate when you really can’t.
I do believe her that the clip was edited in a way that made it seem like she was interjecting her dumb thoughts right away, instead of listening for a bit first.
I watched the entire show, it was not the fault of the producers. She interrupted their conversation.
I do think that’s part of the issue – it’s a natural desire to try to find a point of empathy with someone. Part of growing up and maturing and learning, however, is understanding that there really are some things you cannot empathize with, that there are experiences outside of your wheelhouse that you can’t grasp. And that’s how you have to learn to listen.
I agree that this is more the bubble of obliviousness that some people are privileged to be able to exist in than outright prejudice.
That said, if she wrote that statement I’ll eat my hat. The woman who can’t “speak Paris” is all of a sudden throwing around “prejudicial bias” and “infuse levity”?
Note to PR people: make your ghostwriting style believable.
Amazingly I can’t speak “Paris” either!
How the hell is she a model????
hahaha. hahahahahahahaha. Bwahahahahahaha-haha. Just when I thought I’d seen the depths of stupidity with the current US president, this girl cut the ground from under me.
I had to re-watch it. She seems super bored when listening to the others and then gets all flustered talking about the difficulty of being a blonde. It’s priceless.
Highlight of the week. 😉
I see what you did there!! 🤣😂🤣😂
She did not author that apology. No frakking way.
This exactly! There’s no way someone that dumb created that apology statement. No way
This to me is a prime example of white deflection. As a black woman I have experienced this numerous times – specifically by white women. Whenever an issue comes up that they either can’t relate to or makes them uncomfortable they derail the conversation by making it all about them. And it’s usually framed as them being the “victim” or having it “just as bad” or their feelings being hurt.
Or it becomes what YOU can do to make it better, how to process YOUR feelings, or adjust YOUR attitude/outlook/level of empathy.
If I were part of that conversation and I would have heard that statement…my brain would have stopped functioning…and I would have had to have been rushed to the hospital to be put on life support to live…
That’s what my reaction would have been to something…THAT asinine…and ignorant….
Heck. I liked her as a model before. But. How. How can someone say that. How…. Ughhhh
I thought she was joking, but then I watched the clip and realized she wasn’t. Yikes.
I’m surprised she went on after everyone was looking at her in confusion. I did wonder if it was scripted, but the acting was too good.
I think her apology tried to play it off as a joke, but her delivery was so awful, the “joke” was so inappropriate, and the other models were already so aghast that I’m not sure it was. This poor girl is dumb as a box of rocks. I still don’t feel bad for her, though.
I mean, how exactly would you edit in the sentence “I don’t speak Paris?” Like that’s a whole sentence right there and there are no cutaways either. So?
I don’t like blonde jokes on principle and I thought for a while that we were past that as a collective but I guess not.
If she was serious, then… Holy shit.
What fresh hell is this? What was she modeling? DERPends undergarments?
LOL This reminds me of seeing Kelly Pickler on Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (turns out she’s not) when she thought Europe was a country and didn’t know Hungary was a country, either. Oh man … at first I thought this was a legitimate beef and was going to point out how much had changed, as Janice Dickinson couldn’t even get a U.S. Vogue cover back in the 70’s because she was too “ethnic looking,” but never mind.
For those excusing this bigotry by chalking it up to ignorance, impact always outweighs intent.
I love this and I’m going to borrow it when I get push back from people who, “Didn’t know.” Thank you!
Well, I did learn one thing today, that the citizens of Paris speak a completely different language than the citizens of France. I really just thought they all spoke French, huh.
Sttaight from Married with Children: “Blonde hair doesn’t just grow from your head, you know!”
I’m not a model but I am blonde and thin. Trust me, it’s not hard at all.
She certainly didn’t write that IG apologia. She wouldn’t know what half those words mean – “infuse levity”? From an airhead who who said “I don’t speak Paris”?!?!?
Hopefully she has learned something from this — how to be sensitive to others, not make everything about her, think before she speaks, etc. Or at the very least, how not to sound like a selfish dim-witted twit on television.
I’m interested to see if this is her only snafu or merely her first. I know these reality shows need villains but SHEESH.
Did she seriously say, “It’s hard to speak PARIS”????? omg
That is some 45 Level of stupidity and willful ignorance right there.
I can…not.
I’m sorry but the woman who said she doesn’t “speak Paris” did not write that thoughtfully worded apology
Ok she did NOT write that apology. This girl thinks “Paris” is a language for God’s sake.
She’s really not very attractive. That being said, I do believe the whole thing was edited. Don’t believe the clips you see on reality TV. They can make anyone or anything look stupid. We do not know what the rest of the conversation was like. The producers recognized they have a person who’s not very bright and not very articulate and ran with it.
I am living for Ping’s “Small Violins” comment.
Look at her roots. she’s not blonde and she’s just silly!
At what point will people stop excusing racist, privileged and insensitive remarks for being “just dumb”. Aren’t all racists “just dumb”? Isn’t being that willfully ignorant and insensitive as damaging as being an overt racist. The affects on PoCs are the same. Stop excusing & dismissing trash behavior.
So this person asks if we know how hard it is to be blonde…
Well honey, anyone, including you can be blonde for about $20 or less from the hair color aisle at Target.
What an uneducated tool this one is.
Tall? Check. Skinny? Check. Reasonably young? Check. Dye job to be blonde? Check.
Is that all it takes to be called a model these days? Lordy day I feel old.
Go back and get yourself some formal education, and save all your modeling money for the day you’re no longer young enough to live off your looks. (She is nothing extra ordinary as far as I can tell.)
If she was sorry she wouldn’t been liking tweets saying people on the internet were overreacting. She’s completely stupid, arrogant and bad at her job.
Also this show is completely ridiculous, calling those girls “top models” and “supermodels” when the biggest thing they’ve done is Victoria’s Secret catalog. Ping Hue deserves better than this shows tbh
Aaannndd..another soon to be unemployed model. She best get familiar with home use “Frost and Tip.”
She’s hideous inside and out
I heard that the trend in the modeling industry is for models with interesting faces, rather than perfect faces because they draw attention.
If Lurch and KellyAnne Conway had a baby.
I really think it was an attempt at humor, albeit malformed.
I’ve been watching this show. I’m blonde, tall and used to model in those countries she can’t speak Paris in. I think what she was doing (I’m not saying its right!) was somehow trying to relate, with her experiences as a younger model. Being a young broke model in foreign countries is scary as hell. The stories I have are almost unbelievable. But! She still, as hard as it might have been, cannot relate to the WOC at her table. My bff model friend was a drop dead in your tracks stunning black woman. I know for a fact she worked her butt off way more than I did for acceptance and entry into the fashion world, and no, I cannot relate to it at all, using any of my experiences. So, of course! She should have just listened! To me it seemed she wanted to make the conversation about herself, whatever the topic was when she should have zipped it. Being white, you can never relate with POC not just in modeling, but in any industry. We just don’t face discrimination and can never know how that feels.
But also being a model is different than going through life being pretty. It can be terrifying and damaging at times.
Also though, Devon is a high fashion girl, they do not look like the typical model pretty, for instance (on the show) Caroline. Everyday pretty does not translate into high fashion. So, Devon is a very well known model. The Victoria’s Secret Runway Show is the pinnacle of a model’s success bc it can turn you into a household name. So these girls are doing very well. I wasn’t aware of Ping before the show and she is stunning and should absolutely be a household name. But yes, this show is pretty silly, but if you’ve ever worked in fashion, the whole thing is pretty silly so I get a kick out of it. I cannot understand why that Olivia Culpo is on this modeling show. You are not a model at 5’6. You can be a personality but not a model. Those are just my two cents!
Ok sorry but why is it if you’re a woc you have to be drop dead gorgeous to be a model, but if you’re thin, white and blonde you don’t have to be?
Me- I think I can answer that. So on any job: show, print whatever, there’s a plan for models. Unfair as it is, a catalog shoot might budget for a blonde, brunette, black girl, Asian girl. So there’s a sea of blondes/brunettes right? But usually there’s only one spot for a WOC, so sometimes a black girl might go up against an Asian woman, or Latina. So, it’s that much more selective for WOC. A show might budget for only 2-3 black women, so you see the WOC have to stand out big time to get the coveted spots. It’s not like me, white girl. Someone might want a blonde, but would be ok with a different hair color bc there’s usually much more room for a few different white women. But those WOC spots are EXTREMELY limited. I feel that fashion is trying to move in the right direction? However unfortunately I don’t think the fashion world will ever be representative of the real world. Again, I don’t agree with this but this usually is the case with most jobs in the industry. It is much much more difficult for a WOC to achieve that “supermodel “ status. Looking back at the iconic supermodels that’s evident. There’s one Naomi, to the Cindy, Christy, Linda, Claudia. It needs to shift.