The Weeknd Cuts Ties With H&M Over Offensive Ad Campaign
The Weekend is cutting ties with H&M following the fashion giant’s most offensive advertisement yet.
Over the weekend, the Swedish-based retailer came under heavy fire for using an image of a black child to market a new sweatshirt with the phrase, “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.”
Almost immediately, the fashion company faced an onslaught of backlash for what many social media users and consumers of the brand are calling a blatantly racist advertisement.
One former supporter of H&M to part ways with the brand was the “Starboy” singer, who was an ambassador and had released his own line of clothing under the label just last year. However, despite the partnership he once shared with the retail store, the artist made it publicly known that he would no longer be in business with the enterprise after the botched campaign.
“Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo,” the star wrote on Twitter. “I’m deeply offended and will not be working with [H&M] anymore…”
The ad has since been removed from the website as of Monday (January 8), and H&M issued the following apology in response to the wave of criticism:
"We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree. 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."
The Weeknd's Best Live Vocals