Doritos cuts ties with Samantha Hudson, a trans Spanish influencer, after disturbing posts surface
Doritos has decided to sever ties with Samantha Hudson, a 24-year-old trans Spanish influencer and singer, after disturbing social media posts resurfaced earlier this week.
In the posts from 2015, a then-teenage Hudson shared on Twitter, now known as X, that she wanted to do "deprived things" with a "12-year-old girl," Rolling Stone reported. The original posts from Hudson have been deleted, but X users continue to share screenshots of her comments online.
Hudson's comments were brought to light primarily by right-wing social media users who commented under her 50-second branded video for her Doritos Spain campaign “Crunch Talks." She initially posted it on her Instagram, but it soon spread across multiple platforms, along with her old posts.
In a statement to USA TODAY, PepsiCo, which owns Doritos, said it ended its campaign with Hudson once the company became aware of her past social posts.
“We (Doritos Spain) recently created a content series with Samantha Hudson, a local influencer. After the campaign started, we were made aware of Samantha’s deleted Tweets from around 2015,” the statement said. “We have ended the relationship and stopped all related campaign activity due to the comments. We strongly condemn words or actions that promote violence or sexism of any kind.”
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Hudson apologized in a now-deleted X post
Hudson apologized for her comments in a since-deleted post on X saying her words were “absolutely out of place, disgusting and offensive." She goes on to mention how she's received "countless violent messages, threats... and very serious accusations for four days."
Hudson also reiterated how her comments were made as a minor and during a time when the "general tone of social networks was to make the most brutal and exorbitant black humor that you could" to draw attention to oneself.
"I don't think like that and I didn't think like that then," her apology said.
Hudson ended her apology by disproving a "manipulated post" from 2014 that accused her of pedophilia. She also called out other social media users for using transphobic language to attack her gender identity and physical appearance.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Controversy leads Doritos to cuts ties with a trans Spanish influencer
