Prominent journalist, lawyer criticizes Hudson’s Bay for using image without her consent

Hadiya Roderique was stunned to find herself featured in a Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) national advertisement campaign, considering she had no idea they were using her image.

A friend told Roderique to visit two downtown locations of the department store on Monday where she found her photo prominently displayed at both checkout counters. The pictures had been there since June 25.

“It felt very violating to have what is the iconic picture of me, the one from the cover of my Globe article ‘Black on Bay Street,’ something  I associate with very positive memories, now being co-opted without my knowledge to raise money for an organization that I don’t want to raise money for,” said Roderique.

Roderique’s image was used for HBC’s Charter for Change campaign which is soliciting donations to “support education, employment and empowerment opportunities for Indigenous peoples, Black people and people of colour across the country.”

Several notable Canadians are in the campaign, but Roderique said neither she nor Luis Mora, her photographer, gave consent to the retailer.

“That to me was deeply problematic and pretty ironic that they were claiming to support black empowerment but using my image without doing basic checks,” said Roderique. “It was pretty disappointing.”

Roderique, who is a consultant on equity, diversity and inclusion, a journalist and a prominent lawyer, also took to social media, blasting the retail giant who responded with an apology.

Hey @hudsonsbay, it would have been a good idea for you to get my permission to use my face and associated activism to solicit donations “to support employment and empowerment of IBPOC”, no? pic.twitter.com/uuBasqDN7N

— Hadiya Roderique (@hadiyaroderique) July 5, 2021

A spokesperson from HBC also tells CityNews, the image was used by mistake, saying it was from a photographer’s website that was used as inspiration when developing the campaign.

“However it did not get updated, as was intended, to reflect one of the participating Canadians in the Hudson’s Bay Charter for Change campaign. We deeply regret the error and have reached out to Dr. Roderique to explain and correct,” read the statement.

“I still have a bunch of questions about that because I’m not sure how [with] an internal inspiration document, how I then end up on the final ad copy. Usually there’s a lot of checks and balances,” said Roderique.

Roderique said she has spoken with the company and plans to have another conversation with HBC where she’s hoping to learn more about the campaign and how the funds are allocated in support of their cause.

She’s also hoping the company makes a donation to a charity of her choice associated with Black and Indigenous causes.

“This happens all the time to Black creators. Black creators’ words, art, images, thought leadership, writing is co-opted by others and used by others often without their consent. No matter what circumstance it happens in, it’s not okay.”

CityNews has reached out Luis Mora, the photographer, and the agency who represents him, but have not received a response.