--- title: The Weeknd Responds to H&M Coolest Monkey Hoodie description: The Weeknd has responded to H&M featuring a black child modeling a hoodie with the slogan "coolest monkey in the jungle" on its website. canonical: https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-08T21:36:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:38.368Z og:title: The Weeknd Says He Won't Work With H&M After Hoodie Ad og:description: "I’m deeply offended" og:url: https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65045a8d3244a08/6988f77cdb298784fb25e546/the-weeknd-hm-hoodie.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: The-Weeknd-HM-Hoodie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Weeknd Says He Won't Work With H&M After Hoodie Ad twitter:description: "I’m deeply offended" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65045a8d3244a08/6988f77cdb298784fb25e546/the-weeknd-hm-hoodie.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Weeknd Says He Will No Longer Work With H&M After 'Coolest Monkey' Hoodie > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=71903433-adae-45a2-816f-786f75538377&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 8, 2018 9:36 PM UTC  The Weeknd performs onstage during the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 22, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Weeknd performs onstage during the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 22, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 8, 2018 9:36 PM UTC [The Weeknd](http://time.com/5085397/coachella-2018-lineup/) has stated that he will no longer work with [H&M](http://time.com/money/4763492/met-gala-2017-h-m-nicki-minaj/) after the [fashion retailer](http://time.com/5072393/ridiculous-fashion-items/) featured a black child modeling a hoodie with the slogan “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” on the British version of its online store. The _Starboy_ singer took to Twitter on Monday to announce his decision, explaining that he was “deeply offended” by the photos in question — which have been removed from H&M’s website. “Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo,” [he wrote](https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/950447182829699072). “I’m deeply offended and will not be working with [@hm](https://twitter.com/hm) anymore.” The Weeknd had previously partnered with H&M for its 2017 Spring Icons campaign and designed a fall 2017 collection for the brand. H&M [issued an apology](http://time.com/5092616/black-child-hm-coolest-monkey-hoodie/) for the offending ad on Monday after it was accused of being racist by hundreds of social media users on Sunday. “We sincerely apologize for this image,” the company told TIME. “It has been now removed from all online channels and the product will not be for sale in the United States. We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do, and will be reviewing our internal routines.” > [](https://twitter.com/theweeknd/status/950447182829699072) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/"},"headline":"The Weeknd Says He Will No Longer Work With H&M After 'Coolest Monkey' Hoodie","datePublished":"2018-01-08T21:36:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:38.368Z","description":"\"I’m deeply offended\"","url":"https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Clothing","H&M","the weeknd"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65045a8d3244a08/6988f77cdb298784fb25e546/the-weeknd-hm-hoodie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65045a8d3244a08/6988f77cdb298784fb25e546/the-weeknd-hm-hoodie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The-Weeknd-HM-Hoodie","caption":"The Weeknd performs onstage during the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 22, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.","creditText":"Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5093734/the-weeknd-hm-monkey-hoodie/","name":"The Weeknd Says He Will No Longer Work With H&M After 'Coolest Monkey' Hoodie"}}]}] ```