LeBron James, The Weeknd Blast Retail Giant H&M's 'Racist' Ad

Fast fashion brand H&M faced the wrath of the Internet yesterday over using an image of a Black child who was sporting a hoodie that said, "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" in its U.K. online catalogue.

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The disdainful ad received widespread social media backlash. Canadian singer, The Weeknd who has a clothing line with the retailer called out the Swedish brand on Twitter, cutting ties with the brand. 

"Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo," Abel Tesfaye wrote on Twitter. "I’m deeply offended and will not be working with H&M anymore."

Basketball star LeBron James took to Instagram to address the Swedish brand. 

"@HM u got us all wrong! And we ain't going for it! Straight up! Enough about y'all and more of what I see when I look at this photom," he wrote. 

"I see a Young King!! The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied! We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that's what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!!" 

H&M issued an apology soon after its racial snafu went viral, only to be met with more backlash with criticism of clothing company's superficial approach to the issue.  

"This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended," the corporation said in a statement. 

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku also altered H&M’s "racist" children's hoodie advert, modifying the controversial slogan to "Black Is Beautiful." 

Questlove, the U.S. drummer, and producer, pointed out the underlying issue in many such corporations who use superficial means to brush the issue under the carpet.  

"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 (donations under these circumstances are the corporate version #SomeOfMyBestFriendsAre move if there ever was one) all this tells me about @HM is that the seats in the boardroom lack something...wanna take a guess?," he wrote on his Instagram. 

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H&M later issued another statement announcing its decision to pull the item from its range too. 

"We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally. It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again," the corporation said in a statement.  

Journalist Shaun King also took to Twitter with two images with a telling narrative, King  juxtaposed a White kid from H&M's online catalogue sporting a hoodie that said, "Mangrove Jungle Official Survival Expert Junior Tour Guide" next to the image of the Black kid that sparked outrage, which said, "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle." 

"Nah. This was not an accident @HM. These 2 shirts are talking to each other as a part of a line of clothing. Look at the message," King wrote.