Gigi Hadid suddenly backs out of Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Nov 17, 2017

Gigi Hadid has announced on Twitter that she will not be walking in the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai later this month.

Hadid tweeted, "I’m so bummed I won’t be able to make it to China this year. Love my VS family, and will be with all my girls in spirit!! Can't wait to tune in with everyone to see the beautiful show I know it will be, and already can't wait for next year! :) x." She gives no further explanation as to why she backed out.

The announcement comes less than two weeks from the date of the runway show. It is a surprise to the public after Hadid called it a "dream come true" in August on her Twitter to be asked back to walk in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year.

While the official reason has not been revealed, there are a handful of potential reasons the model had to back out. A group of models cast for the show were unable to get visas granted from the Chinese government. Russian models Julia Belyakova, Kate Grigorieva and Irina Sharipova were denied visas. Ukrainian model Dasha Khlystun was also denied a visa and will not be able to travel to China for the show.

A second reason Hadid may not be walking in the show is potential social backlash from a controversial video Hadid's sister Bella uploaded in February. While the video has been taken off of social media channels, it featured Hadid holding a cookie that was shaped like Buddha next to her face and squinting her eyes.

People in China were angered by the video. When Hadid made her announcement in August that she was going to walk in the Shanghai show, Chinese people responded by saying they would not welcome her into their country. The discussion became so heated that Hadid disabled the comments feature on the post which made the announcement.

Hadid has been busy in the industry lately. She released her second collaboration with Stuart Weitzman earlier this week, and has been promoting the two piece capsule for the holidays. So, she looks to continue to focus on this since she is no longer walking in the Victoria's Secret show.

Younger sister Bella Hadid is still committed to the show, as is Karlie Kloss. The large product story from the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show will be the unveiling of the Balmain x VS collection, which will be immediately available for purchase after the show.

The 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is in Shanghai for the first time ever. The show will take place on November 28.