Canadian pop star the Weeknd says he's distancing himself from H&M after it was revealed the clothing giant had released an advertising image of a young black model in a sweatshirt with the words ``Coolest monkey in the jungle.''
The brand removed the image and apologized, but kept in place other designs modeled by white children.
Toronto native the Weeknd tweeted he was ``shocked and embarrassed'' and ``deeply offended'' and would no longer work with the clothing brand.
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
U.K. Labour Party lawmaker Kate Osamor tweeted that she was ``totally shocked, dismayed to say the very least'' by the image and, addressing H&M, asked ``do you think this imagery is an appropriate representation of a young black boy?''
The retailer said Monday that the ``image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we sincerely apologize to anyone this may have offended.''
The Weeknd first announced in November 2016 that he would be handpicking items for a spring 2017 clothing line bearing his name. He later released a fall line with clothing including jackets, sweatshirts and hoodies.