Lancôme has cancelled a promotional event due to take place in Hong Kong after Chinese protestors spoke out against one of the artists billed to perform, according to a report published by the BBC.

Users of Chinese online forums encouraged a boycott of Lancôme products after discovering pro-democracy activist Denise Ho was set to sing at the concert.

The L’Oréal-owned prestige cosmetics brand cited ‘safety reasons’ as the cause of its cancellation, and has since disassociated the brand from Ho, posting on its Facebook account that there was no affiliation between the singer and the brand.  

Ho has called for a full explanation from Lancôme. “Lancôme is an international brand. Of course, even an international brand has to fall to its knees in the face of this kind of bullying. We have to seriously face up to this problem,” she said in a statement following the cancellation.