It looks like The Weeknd is done with H&M.
The Grammy winner tweeted about his disappointment in the popular clothing company’s latest marketing attempt, which showed a young black boy wearing a hoodie that read “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” He writes, “woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore… .”
The Weeknd partnered with H&M last year. During his working relationship with the brand he released a limited-edition “Starboy” fashion collection and a separate capsule collection, along with fronting their Spring Icons campaign.
As reported earlier today, the racially insensitive image, which was posted on H&M’s UK retail site as “printed hooded top,” sparked social media outrage over the weekend and was subsequently deleted. H&M, based in Sweden, issued an apology via the New York Daily News on Monday from its Stockholm headquarters.
“This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended,” the statement read.
Since the retail image surfaced, many have voiced their frustrations, via social media, on how H&M could so obviously miss the mark.
“This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended,” the statement read.
Since the ad, many have voiced their frustration on how H&M could so obviously miss the mark.
“@hm, have you lost your damned minds?!?!?!” wrote one user, sharing a screenshot of the image.
Another person said she wasn’t surprised by their faux pas. “I worked for them for years and they’re clueless sometimes,” the user tweeted. “The head office in Sweden is very disconnected to issues of racism, cultural & social challenges. They seriously probably think this is cute.”
H&M later expanded on their apology in a statement issued to ABC News:
“We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree,” the statement read. “We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally. It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.”
Black Lives Matter also released a statement on the racially insensitive image, calling for a full boycott of H&M products.
“We are deeply disappointed and appalled that an internationally known clothing company in 2018 would decide to put a young black child in clothes with the label “coolest monkey”. We are calling for black people and our allies in the Black Lives Matter movement, celebrities and other VIPs included, to do a full boycott of H&M products,” read the statement from Black Lives Matter Greater Atlanta Vice President Patrick Newbill.
He added, “This was not a simple case of oversight. Someone in the marketing department made the decision to ok this, knowing about the tense racial climate that exist at this time. A formal apology and donation to the Black Lives Matter movement must be made before an end to the boycott can be considered!”
