The Weeknd Cuts Ties With H&M After Ad Featuring Black Child Wearing ‘Coolest Monkey’ Hoodie

The backlash over the racially charged photo intensified Monday as H&M was left scrambling for an explanation as to how such a problematic photo could have made it onto its site.
In a longer, more detailed statement sent to Business Insider, H&M wrote:

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.

Business Insider noted, however, that the offensive sweatshirt, which was taken down from H&M’s U.S. site Monday, still appeared to be for sale on the U.K. page.