For more than two decades, L’Oréal Paris and the Cannes Film Festival have gone hand in hand with one familiar face from India: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. So when the cosmetic brand unveiled its latest ambassador banners at Cannes’ Le Martinez Hotel this week, fans immediately noticed something missing: Aishwarya.
The brand put up six giant posters featuring its global ambassadors ahead of the festival. Among them was Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, but Aishwarya, one of L’Oréal’s most recognisable faces at Cannes, did not appear in the line-up.
Sharing the visual on Instagram, L’Oréal Paris wrote, “Consider this L’Oréal Paris’s official check-in, Le Martinez is officially home for the Festival”.
The post quickly sparked backlash in the comments section, with many fans questioning why Aishwarya had been left out of the campaign despite her long association with both the brand and the festival.
“Where's the mother of Cannes #AishwaryaRaiBachchan,” one user wrote.
Another commented, “They choose Eva Longoria and Alia instead of Aishwaria ?’ Not cool because Aishwaria is as older as Eva as a brand l’Oreal ambassador or maybe more”.
One fan added, “I'm sorry but Aishwarya Rai will forever be much bigger than Alia Bhatt” while another posted, “Where is @aishwaryaraibachchan_arb ?We only see Aishwarya Rai Bachchan during Cannes. We want to see her more. Her aura is unmatched ..please promote and celebrate her more”.
The official L’Oréal Paris account responded to one of the comments, saying, “Year after year, Cannes after Cannes, she never misses”.
But the reassurance did little to calm angry fans. “Where is her poster then,” one user replied. “We want her 2017 look poster,” wrote another user.
Aishwarya’s association with Cannes dates back to 2002, when she attended the festival with Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the premiere of Devdas. A year later, she walked the red carpet as a L’Oréal ambassador for the first time.
The 2026 edition of Cannes Film Festival was inaugurated on Tuesday and will run till May 23.