An agency CEO has apologized for sending out a Cannes party invite for 'attractive females and models only'

Gary Vaynerchuk, the CEO of VaynerMedia, has apologized for a Cannes party invite sent out on behalf of his agency, calling for "attractive females and models only," Adweek reports.

The invite has been the talk of the Cannes Lions advertising festival this week and was quickly circulated amongst female advertising executives.

Cindy Gallop, an advertising consultant and feminist campaigner, shared the details of the invite on Twitter:

As the tweet shows, the email — for an event taking place on Wednesday, sponsored by VaynerMedia and Thrillist Media Group — sought out "attractive females and models only," which was emphasized in bold and underlined text. The invite was sent by IGetIn, an events company.

"Gentlemen may contact the PR departments of the respective sponsors," the email read. Meanwhile, females hoping to attend were required to send their "untouched" photos from Facebook and Instagram.

VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk posted numerous videos to Twitter on Tuesday, apologizing for the email

He said he was "mortified" but took full responsibilty and was "getting to the bottom of it."

Thrillist Media CEO Ben Lerer, however, was less apologetic, calling the email "promoter spam":

VaynerMedia, Thrillist, and IGetIn were not immediately available for comment.

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