H&M remove controversial ‘monkey’ hoodie after outrage over ‘racist’ photo of boy
Do you know the model involved in the ad? Contact The Sun Online brittany.vonow@the-sun.co.uk or 0207 782 4368
CLOTHING giant H&M has stopped selling the monkey hoodie which caused a race storm.
The firm was slammed for an advert showing a young black child modelling a jumper with the words: "Coolest monkey in the jungle."
It sparked a backlash, with Man Utd ace Romelu Lukaku and singer The Weeknd slamming the brand.
Now the £7.99 top has been pulled from shelves and the Swedish firm has issued a grovelling apology on its and Instagram.
The statement reads: "We would like to put on record our position in relation to the controversial image of our hoodie.
"Our position is simple - we have got this wrong and we are deeply sorry.
"This incident is accidental in nature, but this doesn't mean we don't take it extremely seriously or understand the upset and discomfort it has caused."
Do you know the model involved in the ad? Contact The Sun Online brittany.vonow@the-sun.co.uk or 0207 782 4368
The item sparked fury when style blogger Stephanie Yeboah shared the advert on Twitter.
She posted: "Whose idea was it @hm to have this little sweet black boy wear a jumper that says 'coolest monkey in the jungle'?
"I mean. What?"
H&M's full apology over 'monkey' slogan hoodie
H&M is fully committed to playing its part in addressing society’s issues and problems, whether it’s diversity, working conditions or environmental protection – and many others.
Our standards are high and we feel that we have made real progress over the years in playing our part in promoting diversity and inclusion. But we clearly haven’t come far enough.
We agree with all the criticism that this has generated – we have got this wrong and we agree that, even if unintentional, passive or casual racism needs to be eradicated wherever it exists.
We appreciate the support of those who have seen that our product and promotion were not intended to cause offence but, as a global brand, we have a responsibility to be aware of and attuned to all racial and cultural sensitivities – and we have not lived up to this responsibility this time.
This incident is accidental in nature, but this doesn’t mean we don’t take it extremely seriously or understand the upset and discomfort it has caused.
We have taken down the image and we have removed the garment in question from sale. It will be recycled.
We will now be doing everything we possibly can to prevent this from happening again in future.
Racism and bias in any shape or form, conscious or unconscious, deliberate or accidental, are simply unacceptable and need to be eradicated from society. In this instance we have not been sensitive enough to this agenda.
Please accept our humble apologies.
She added: "I'm f***ing disgusted.
"As somebody who has been called a monkey many times by white people (both to my face and online), this is absolutely unacceptable."
The post was retweeted nearly 14,000 times within a day of being shared on January 7.
Earlier this week H&M apologised and removed the photo from their website.
But some people disagreed with the accusations.
Loose Women star Saira Khan defended H&M and said she’d buy the hoodie for her own son.
Twitter user George wrote: "That obviously isn't meant to be racist. It's only offensive if you choose for it to be, which you have."
And another user, Kwame, said it was "just modelling" and "done with no harming intention".
The row is the latest in a string of racism rows hitting big brands.
In October, Dove was criticised after model Munroe Bergdorf hit out at an advert appearing to show a black woman remove her brown T-shirt to become a white woman in a light beige top.
A H&M spokeswoman said today: “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended.”
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