Valentina Sampaio's Hiring Is a First for Victoria's Secret

Valentina Sampaio will become Victoria's Secret's first openly transgender model. The Brazilian's agent confirmed the hiring Monday to CNN after she posted a video on Instagram that suggested she got the job. Sampaio was hired for a campaign debuting in August for the company's PINK line. "First transgender to shoot with Vs! This make me so happy!" Lais Ribeiro, a Brazilian model for Victoria's Secret, tweeted.

A Victoria's Secret executive said a year ago that this would never happen. Ed Razek made the comments in an interview with Vogue, per the Los Angeles Times. A backlash followed. Razek apologized later on the company's Twitter page, saying Victoria's Secret would “absolutely cast a transgender model for the show." (More transgender stories.)