Forever 21
After receiving backlash for dressing a white model in a Wakanda Forever sweater, Forever 21 has issued an apology.
On Tuesday, photos of the male model promoting Forever 21’s Black Panther merchandise appeared online. After the photos surfaced on Twitter, many social media users shared their reaction to the casting choice.
“They got a super pale, blond, blue-eyed model in a Wakanda Forever sweater… [rolling on the floor laughing emojis],” Twitter user @sanefacade wrote Tuesday. “I wanna speak to your advertising department, @Forever21. Someone approved this and thought this was going to work.”
“how the hell @Forever21 putting Eminem Jr. in the Wakanda Forever sweater,” Twitter user @KyleMaurer asked.
The photos have since been removed from the website and replaced with a picture of just the Wakanda Forever Fair Isle Sweater.
“Forever 21 takes feedback on our products and marketing extremely seriously,” the company tells E! News in a statement. “We celebrate all superheroes with many different models of various ethnicities and apologize if the photo in question was offensive in any way.”
A Forever 21 tweet, which used photos of the model in the sweater, has since been deleted.