Top Pop singer The Weeknd has ended his partnership with H&M over an advertisement labeled by many as racially insensitive.
The retailer sparked backlash after depicting a black child model in a sweatshirt that read "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle," prompting the hip-hop artist to release a statement of his own condemning H&M's choice.
The Weeknd made this tweet:
"woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo," The Weeknd tweeted. "i'm deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore..."
https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/950447182829699072/photo/1
- theweeknd
H&M said:
"It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly," H&M concluded. "This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again."
The sweater is still available online but the photo of the model has been removed.
The Weeknd worked with H&M on two different collaborations, and his latest clothing collection was released last September. It's currently unclear if and when the recording artist's products will be removed from H&M stores.
Sean Diddy Combs shared a re-imagined version of the sweater that read "Coolest King in the World," adding, "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."
Source E! (m.eonline.com)
Image 1- GettyImages
Image 2- Twitter