Ralph Lauren Model Fired For Being Too “Fat”

Filippa Hamilton, a gorgeous 5-foot-10, 120-pound French model whose image was recently altered dramatically for a Japanese print ad, claims she was fired from her Ralph Lauren modeling gig in April because they thought she was too fat.

“They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore,” Hamilton, 23, told the NY Daily News.

Hamilton said of the Ralph Lauren Blue Label ad, which features a funhouse mirror-like slimming of her hips: “I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face; it’s very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that.”

The company Tuesday, in response, said the controversially altered picture “was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton.” They confirmed Hamilton was released “as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us.”

Hamilton, who had modeled for the designer since 2002, said in response: “I think they owe American women an apology, a big apology; I’m very proud of what I look like, and I think a role model should look healthy.”