Model claims he was dumped by agency for being gay and Asian

Chicago-based model Chufue Yang claims top agency Ford Models dropped him because he’s gay and Hmong American, reports PinkNews.

Yang took to Instagram earlier this week to share his thoughts.

Recently, I was dropped by my agency @fordmodels. I can sit here and find multiple reasons to be upset, but measuring my self worth to being signed doesn’t really seem like the mindset to wallow in. But I still can’t help but wonder, perhaps things would’ve been different if I would’ve been honest about myself from the beginning. For example, having my comp card say that I was taller than I really was had already diminished my identity from the get go. It also forced me to follow the illusion and “standards” of the industry. Being 5 foot 10, Hmong American (my ethnicity for those of you that don’t know) and gay already challenges the industry in itself and for a while I thought I wasn’t getting booked because of those reasons, when in reality.. that’s exactly why. The glass ceiling capped on people of color, especially queer people of color prevails. The blame is not on my previous agents, not on my previous agency but on the industry and myself for not having a firmer stance on my values. What I’ve learned is to not lose your voice in an industry where your physical features are placed above everything else, especially your identity. Chapter closed and moving forward. Photographed by @bputerbaughphoto and styled by @katherinerousonelos.

A post shared by Chufue Yang (@chufue) on Aug 20, 2018 at 9:32am PDT

“Like any other queer person that grew up facing internalized racism and homophobia, I was really unsure of what it meant to be queer and Hmong simultaneously,” the model told Dazed. “Being comfortable with myself seemed like a goal I’d never be able to reach, until modeling came into the picture.”

However, Yang found that he didn’t fit the mold of a model: “The 6’2, straight, super buff, super masc and white type of model that most of these companies are used to working with.”

Yang also claims an unspecified agency once increased his height to 6′ on his portfolio, leading to negative first impressions when designers and scouts met the 5’10” model in person. He also says his ethnicity has been erased from information books before.

In July 2017, a website labelled Yang as Mongolian. “Although it could’ve been a simple mistake, being misidentified ethnically is something that not only me, but a lot of Asian Americans experience daily,” said Yang.

When Yang took to Instagram to shed light on the situation, his agent allegedly told him to remove his post. “They didn’t want to ruin the relationship they had with models.com,” he explained. “This was the first time that my voice was silenced after being signed and unfortunately, I gave in.”

@modelsdot I want to thank you for the new face feature, but assuming my cultural identity is a tad bit disheartening. I do not hail from Mongolia, nor do I have Mongolian roots. I’m a first generation Hmong American. Hmong is not a place, it’s a people that can be found all throughout South East Asia and some parts of China. I’m sure this was just a mistranslation and to some it might seem like a simple mistake, but the fact is, being misidentified in regards to my ethic origin is something that I and many other Asian Americans know too well (especially those who identify within South East Asian ethic groups). Be aware, be thoughtful and be open to learning where others come from. I’m in no way criticizing @modelsdot, but simply shedding light on the situation. ✌?

A post shared by Chufue Yang (@chufue) on Jul 17, 2017 at 10:23pm PDT

“To be honest, this whole experience seemed like it was a test run and I was the guinea pig,” he added. “Sign on a cool, ethnic-looking person, try to push them out, and if that doesn’t work, drop them.”

He noted that his emails about jobs started to decrease over time, saying, “It seems as though my height, mono-lids, and black hair didn’t make the cut.”

Not getting booked took a toll on his self-esteem, and he ended up deactivating his social media. Yang said he felt as if he didn’t have control over his body anymore. “It got to the point where I just shaved my head and dyed it a different color without telling my agents. I think my agents probably felt that I wasn’t committed to my career anymore which wasn’t the case at all.”

“My focus has shifted to my education full time, but I hope to model again in the future,” Yang said. “Being a model, for me, is just a stepping stone to a bigger platform. At the end of the day, I want to travel the world, educate, inform and connect.”

He encourages people to support platforms on Instagram like @moremodelsofcolor that aim to highlight underrepresented models in the industry.

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