After two seasons of collaboration, The Weeknd has terminated his relationship with H&M. The move comes after the brand posted a product photo to its UK site of a black child wearing a 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle' hoodie.
According to H&M, the fact that this obviously problematic image ever saw the light of day was an oversight. In a statement to Business Insider, the brand had this to say.
We completely understand and agree with his reaction to the image. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. We have removed the image from all our channels and the sweater is no longer for sale in our stores. We will also look into our internal routines to avoid such situations in the future. We will continue the discussion with the Weeknd and his team separately.
Kudos to the brand for owning up to its mistake and removing the item (and image) from its channels. But the fact remains: It never should have existed in the first place. After this dust-up, maybe the powers that be will keep that in mind next time. Here's hoping.
At the time of publication, a photo of the sweatshirt without the child modeling it still appeared on H&M's website in the UK and available for purchase, but it has since been removed. Cosmopolitan.com has followed up with H&M to find out why and will update this post when the retailer responds.
