The Weeknd severs ties with H&M over ’deeply offensive’ photo
Singer The Weeknd has cut ties with clothing store H&M after a racially offensive photo appeared on the retailer’s website.
The picture showed a black boy wearing a hoodie with the slogan ’Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ across the chest.
The singer tweeted yesterday to say he would not be working with H&M anymore.
"Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and 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
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018
The Weeknd had been working with the Swedish company for over a year, collaborating on a number of new fashion lines.
H&M has since apologised.
As reported by BBC Newsbeat, the hoodie is still available to buy on the website but the item is no longer being worn by a model.
H&M said: "This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended."
The hoodie had not yet been made available in the US, and a statement to USA Today said: "We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image of a printed hooded top".
"The image has been removed from all online channels and the product will not be for sale in the United States. We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do and will be reviewing all our internal policies accordingly to avoid any future issues."
A number of other celebrities took to social media to criticise the label including NBA star LeBron James and Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.
James posted a picture of the model wearing a crown, with another crown blocking out the slogan.
He captioned the photo: "@hm u got us all wrong! And we ain’t going for it! Straight up! Enough about y’all and more of what I see when I look at this photo. I see a Young King!!
"The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied!
"We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that’s what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!!"
Lukaku also took to Instagram, posting the picture of the model with the slogan replaced by "black is beautiful."
The United star captioned the photo: "You’re prince soon to be a king
"Don’t let anybody tell you different ...#blackexcellence"
