The Star Wars actor appeared in the London Gent campaign in August after being named the brand's first male global ambassador last year.

In the ad, John is seen walking around his hometown of Peckham, London and partying with family and friends while also wearing traditional Nigerian clothing. However, the actor was completely edited out of the advert for the Chinese market and instead replaced by actor Liu Haoran.

Addressing the controversy, Jo Malone has now issued an apology and explained in a statement: 'We deeply apologise for what, on our end, was a mistake in the local execution of the John Boyega campaign. 'John is a tremendous artist with great personal vision and direction. The concept for the film was based on John's personal experiences and should not have been replicated.'

View this post on Instagram

Jo Malone London issues an apology to #JohnBoyega, its first male global ambassador, after he is cut out of their ad reshoot for the Chinese market. More, at the link in bio.⁠ ⁠ 📸: @gettyentertainment

A post shared by Hollywood Reporter (@hollywoodreporter) on Sep 13, 2020 at 9:57am PDT

The brand went on: 'While we immediately took action and removed the local version of the campaign, we recognised that this was painful and that offense was caused. 'We respect John, and support our partners and fans globally. We are taking this misstep very seriously and we are working together as a brand to do better moving forward.'

Last year, John said he was inspired to take part in the campaign to shine light on his culture and background.