P Diddy, Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku, basketball player LeBron James are some of the global stars who complained after a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company H&M used a Kenyan boy on a racist advert.
H&M came under fire when it featured a young boy on one of its adverts. A photo of the boy wearing a green hoodie with the message ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ sparked global uproar.
The Swedish retailer faces accusations of racism over the image of the 5-year-old boy. Canadian singer The Weeknd canceled his deal with H&M over the controversial advert.
Several black superstars including P Diddy, Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku, basketball player LeBron James and rapper Pusha T have all condemned H&M over the advert.
Stop crying wolf
Kenyan woman Terry Mango who is the child’s mother has however slammed global stars for crying foul. Terry says the backlash to her son’s controversial photo is ‘unnecessary’.
“I am the mum and this is one of the hundreds of outfits my son has modelled. Stop crying wolf all the time … Get over it. If I bought the jumper and put it on him and posted it on my pages would that make me racist? I get people’s opinions but they are not mine,” wrote Terry Mango on Facebook.
The Kenyan woman defended H&M in a series of posts on Facebook. This even after the Swedish retailer removed the image from its UK and US websites and issued an apology.
