Redeem now A few days ago, the paparazzi photographed Victoria's Secret model Cara Delevingne dropping a bag of "mysterious white powder" outside her apartment.
Pictures showed the model trying to cover the bag with her shoe and handbag and laughing.
The incident might have put 20-year-old Delevingne's career in jeopardy. Brands like Victoria's Secret and H&M have used her to market lines for teens, and a drug scandal would tarnish her image.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.H&M also fired spokeswoman Kate Moss for being busted with cocaine in 2005.
The brand was reportedly "investigating" the incident with Delevingne, but never took action.
Why wasn't Delevingne vilified like Moss?
Kat Stoeffel at The Cut has some ideas.
First, Delevingne's snafu occurred the day before the Met Gala. The event was covered by virtually all major news outlets, meaning that the press and public were distracted.
But Delevingne took things a step further to ensure that no one was paying attention to that little bag of white powder.
She posted an Instagram photo of herself locking lips with actress Sienna Miller:
The sexy image went viral and dominated headlines from the event.
By Tuesday, no one cared about the white powder incident at all.
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