H&M accused of racism after ‘deeply offensive’ kids clothing advert

Singer The Weeknd has severed ties with H&M after the clothing brand produced a product advert that he was "deeply offended" by.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has said that he was "shocked and embarrassed" by the image and that he would not be working with H&M again. The advert shows a young black boy wearing a hoodie that reads: "Coolest monkey in the jungle." https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/950447182829699072 Tesfaye previously worked with the major clothing brand on his XO label. He has also performed at H&M fashion shows. Other stars and social media users were also highly critical of the image. US singer Questlove wrote on Instagram that he was sure that "... the apologies are a coming" but that the image proved that the H&M boardroom was lacking something. He said:

"I’m sure the apologies are a coming. And the ads will be pulled. I’m certain there will be media fixers and whatnot and maybe a grand gesture like a donation to some charity (...) "All this tells me about @HM is that the seats in the boardroom lack something... wanna take a guess?"

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdsMfbAnfN8/ Others agreed that the product image lacked "sensitivity." https://twitter.com/TheKingCenter/status/950210044775337984 https://twitter.com/NathiMthethwaSA/status/950616700247998465 H&M has issued an apology for the image saying that it has since been removed from their online stores and that the product is no longer on sale in the US. They said:

"We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do and will be reviewing all our internal policies accordingly to avoid any future issues."