Laurence Dollimore
THE Weeknd has said he will refuse to work with clothing giant H&M again following controversy over one of its recent adverts.
It comes after the retailer was forced to apologise after being branded as ‘racist’ on social media for showing a black child modelling a hoodie which reads ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’.
The US singer said the advert made him feel ‘shocked and embarrassed’.
The grammy-winning performer had previously modelled for and sold merchandise through the company.
woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore… pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018
H&M said in a statement: “We’re deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print.
“Therefore, we’ve not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our offering.”
Celebrities including rapper Diddy and footballer Romelu Lukaku have responded to the controversy by superimposing new slogans on the photo of the hoodie.
https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/950474809653301258
Manchester United footballer Romelu Lukaku posted a photo with the phrase ‘black is beautiful’.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdtc4AWHim0/
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, with hundreds of outlets across Spain, is a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company which has a reputation for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children.
