The Weeknd is cutting his ties with H&M following the racially-offensive ad, which features a young black model in a green hoodie that reads “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.”
The “Starboy” hitmaker took to Twitter to announce that he was ending his relationship with the Swedish clothing retailer, for which he teamed up with on a 2017 campaign. “woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo,” he tweeted. “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 singer began working with the brand last year, with the singer designing a The Weekend XO men’s line in addition to modeling in the Spring 2017 campaigns.
H & M removed the image from its website following accusations of racism. “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended,” Brand rep Anna Eriksson told CNN.