Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan recently refused to be the Indian face of a skin-lightening cream by L’oreal, the international cosmetic brand. Sonam Kapoor was later signed by L’oreal.

Sources revealed that it was the fairness cream that bothered Aishwarya. She said that she didn't want to promote a fairness cream especially in India where one's skin colour is such a big issue.

She will never promote a product that discriminates on the basis of one's skin colour. Ours is a society where biases are so prevalent that she will do all she can to curb it. While some believe that this was another excuse by the actress to cover her fading popularity.

Aishwarya refused to comment on this matter as she is contract-bound. L’oreal said that Ash hasn’t been replaced and will continue to be its older face, representing a woman in her 30s, while Sonam will be the face of the younger generation.