P Diddy will reportedly offer the young boy featured in a recent controversial H&M fashion shoot, a modelling contract for his own clothing line.
H&M have been branded racially insensitive, ‘disgusting’ and negligent after using a young black boy to model a jumper emblazoned with the slogan: ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’, with many pointing out ‘monkey’ has long been used as a racist slur.
Two white children were also styled wearing similar jumpers, with the slogans ‘Mangrove jungle’ and ‘Official survival expert’, yet the oversight is glaringly painful.
. @hm, have you lost your damned minds?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/EYuCXLZtv3
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 8, 2018
The insensitive styling choices have caused such global backlash online, P Diddy, who owns the fashion line Sean John, passed judgement.
He posted a painting of the young boy, modelling a jumper more befitting.
In the caption Diddy demanded H&M ‘put some respect on it’, adding:
When you look at us make sure you see royalty and super natural God sent glory!! Anything else is disrespectful.
To add further insult to H&M’s self-inflicted injury, the rapper and business mogul is said to be offering the young model a contract with his own clothing brand, reports Metro.
This is yet to be confirmed formally by Diddy or any of his spokespeople, but would go a long way to make things right for the youngster, after the Swedish brand’s oversight.
H&M responded to the backlash on Twitter, writing:
We understand that many people are upset about the image of the children’s hoodie. We, who work at H&M, can only agree.
We’re deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we’ve not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering.
It’s obvious that our routines haven’t been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We’ll thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.
Still, the apology has been met with much online controversy and many, including Romelu Lukaku, have set about correcting their mistake, just like Diddy.
The Manchester United striker took matters into his own hands and doctored the image in the best way, changing the slogan to ‘Black is Beautiful’.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd, real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, who launched his debut line with the Swedish brand in 2017, has repealed his collaborative efforts with H&M since the backlash.
He took to Twitter to say:
Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. I’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm 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
The Weeknd had been working as a collaborator with H&M on the XO clothing line, but told his eight million Twitter followers he was ‘deeply offended’ by the photo in the online shopping section of the website and was cutting ties.
He was met with praise by fans who applauded his decision.
@hm this is disgusting & irresponsible. You know the history of racist using the term “monkey” to demean people of African descent… and you put this on your website! ???? “Coolest Monkey In the Jungle” #SMH pic.twitter.com/IY877D2d8R
— Karamo Brown (@KaramoBrown) January 8, 2018
One fan wrote:
I applaud you for doing this! Just disgraceful. I can’t believe anyone would even post this. You have no reason to be embarrassed Abel. Keep being you.
H&M have since apologised and removed the item from their online platforms and said the product had been pulled from sale in the US.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.