The Weeknd Cut Ties With H&M Over Offensive Ad
The Weeknd has ended his partnership with popular brand H&M after a controversial ad of a black boy modeling a hoodie with the inscription "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" was posted on the Swedish company's website.
Disgusted by the photo, the singer tweeted on Monday, "Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. I'm deeply offended and will not be working with H&M anymore."
Since 2017, Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) worked with the Swedish retailer for his XO brand.
Other celebrities like Questlove also condemned the ad for being racially insensitive. He wrote on his Instagram "And the ads will be pulled. I'm certain there will Be media fixers and whatnot and maybe a grand gesture like a donation to some charity (donations under these circumstances are the corporate version #SomeOfMyBestFriendsAre move if there ever was one) all this tells me about @HM is that the seats in the boardroom lack something...wanna take a guess?"H&M has been under fire since the news of the "controversial ad" spread all over social media.
The company quickly apologized via USA Today saying "We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image,"......., which promoted a hooded top for sale in the U.K. "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."
In writing, H&M also apologized via Pitchfork stating "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."
Despite all apologies by H&M, The Weekend remains adamant that he will never work with the brand ever again.
The Weeknd's OX Brand
The Weeknd's OX Brand