H&M apologises over 'racist' image of black boy in hoodie

  • Published
Screengrab of H&M's website showing a child wearing the hoodie with 'coolest monkey in the jungle'on itImage source, H&M website

People on social media have called H&M "racist" for showing a black child modelling a hoodie that says 'coolest monkey in the jungle.'

Some are calling for a boycott of the brand over the picture, while others defended the retailer.

H&M has said: "We apologise to anyone this may have offended."

People on Twitter described the image published by the Swedish chain as inappropriate and offensive.

The photograph was being using in the children's section of the UK site and some people weren't happy.

People on Twitter questioned how the image of the boy wearing the hoodie was approved on twitter expressed , external

Dexter Neptune wrote: #BlackTwitter h&m is cancelled won't see anymore money from me.

Another user compared the image to one of a white child modelling a hoodie with the words "jungle survival expert."

Some compared two images of child models and questioned how the child models were chosen to wear the tops , external

Others questioned how no-one spotted that the image may be offensive.

Someone else wrote: "No doubt the H&M monkey hoodie photoshoot was organised with completely innocent intentions but in today's outrage society you have to triple check everything you do."

People also defended the clothing brand, some said it was an innocent mistake and others said the brand isn't racist.

Others defended the retailer saying it isn't racist, external

On Twitter one person said all they saw was a boy wearing a top, external

Image source, H&M website
Image caption,

The hoodie is still available to buy on the website

The hoodie is still available to buy online but it no longer features the image of the child modelling it.

The company said: "This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended."

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