The Starboy, real name Abel Tesfaye launched a collection with H&M in 2017, modeling in ad campaigns and collaborating on pieces for his XO brand. Well, say goodbye to that, because he disagrees with how they are running things.
You may have seen this controversial photo of a black kid modeling a hoodie reading “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle,” which appeared on the Swedish company’s website. Whoever approved that should be fired!
The Weeknd 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.”
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
H&M issued a statement of apology, which reads: “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.”
