The comedian and the activist talk about the US election, racism and social media
When comedian Lolly Adefope was asked to suggest people she’d like to speak to for this issue, Munroe Bergdorf was the first and only name on her wishlist. “I’ve long been inspired by her,” she said. Meanwhile, the activist and model has had a busy year. In June, Bergdorf joined L’Oréal’s UK diversity and inclusion advisory board, having been dropped as the brand’s first transgender model in 2017, following comments about “the racial violence of white people”, which were deemed at odds with the company’s values. (In an Instagram post about her reinstatement this summer, she wrote that she believes in “accountability and progress, not cancellation and grudges”). The next month, she signed a six-figure deal for her first book Transitional, a “gender manifesto”, out next year. Covers with Teen Vogue and Time magazine followed (Bergdorf was chosen as one of the latter’s “Next Generation Leaders”).
The two meet online, four days after Joe Biden is confirmed to have won the US presidency. But it’s not the first time they have crossed paths. Years ago, Adefope recalls being a plus one to one of Bergdorf’s birthday parties at a pub, eliciting a hoot of recognition. “I was having the worst birthday ever,” she laughs, “I broke up with my boyfriend that night, thank you for uprooting my trauma!”
