Italian fashion moguls Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have used an interview with CNN to backtrack slightly on their controversial remarks about in vitro fertilization (IVF) that sparked a public backlash, saying that they don’t judge the lifestyles of others but were simply expressing a private opinion.
“I respect you because you choose what you want. I respect me because I choose what I want … This just my point of private view,” Dolce said in the interview.
The two appeared to disagree over IVF with Gabbana seeming more open to the idea while Dolce explained that his Sicilian background engrained in him a belief in the strong, traditional family.
The original comments, in which Dolce called IVF babes “wombs for rent” and “sperm selected from a catalog,” caused pop icon Elton John to urge a boycott of Dolce & Gabbana products that gained support from many celebrities and the wider public.
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