The 'Starboy' hitmaker says he is parting ways with the Swedish company after he's 'offended' by its ad featuring a young black boy wearing a 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle' hoodie.
- Jan 9, 2018
AceShowbiz - The Weeknd says he is quitting his partnership with H&M over its racially insensitive ad. After a photo, first shared by the retailer on its website, featuring a black boy wearing a green hoodie with the words "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" written at the front goes viral, the Canadian musician says he's "offended" by the image.
Taking to his Twitter account on Monday, January 8, The Weeknd, whose real name in Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, wrote, "woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo." The 27-year-old R'n'B star said that he's "deeply offended" by the ad, before announcing that he "will not be working with @hm anymore..."
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
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018
The hoodie ad has caused outrage online after its release. Other celebrities have also responded to the controversial ad, with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs tweeting, "Put some respect on it!!" along with an altered picture of the ad, now featuring the words "Coolest King in the World" written at the front of the hoodie. "When you look at us make sure you see royalty and super natural God sent glory!!" the 48-year-old entrepreneur/record producer added. "Anything else is disrespectful."
Put some respect on it!! When you look at us make sure you see royalty and super natural God sent glory!! Anything else is disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/QVaxgngwh1
— Diddy (@Diddy) January 8, 2018
H&M has issued a statement following the backlash. "We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree," read the statement sent to Pitchfork. "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 first partnered with H&M in March 2017 when he released his Spring Icons collection. The "Starboy" hitmaker created a second menswear collection with the Swedish company the same year in September.
