West Coast Rap Artist G-Eazy Cancels Partnership With H&M ‘Monkey’ Sweatshirt

Bay Area rapper G-Eazy, who in mid-December announced a line with international clothing retailer H&M, has left the partnership, citing concerns over a controversial item being sold on their site.

The item, which was being modeled on a young black child, was a green sweatshirt with print reading “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle.”

After a swift backlash, H&M removed the item and apologized earlier this week, then apologized a second time on Tuesday.

G-Eazy, who wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday evening that he had been “genuinely excited” about the upcoming collaboration, announced he would be exiting from the deal after “seeing the disturbing image.”

“Whether an oblivious oversight or not, it’s truly sad and disturbing that in

Over the past months I was genuinely excited about launching my upcoming line and collaboration with @HM… Unfortunately, after seeing the disturbing image yesterday, my excitement over our global campaign quickly evaporated, and I've decided at this time our partnership needs to end. Whether an oblivious oversight or not, it's truly sad and disturbing that in 2018, something so racially and culturally insensitive could pass by the eyes of so many (stylist, photographer, creative and marketing teams) and be deemed acceptable. I can't allow for my name and brand to be associated with a company that could let this happen. I hope that this situation will serve as the wake up call that H&M and other companies need to get on track and become racially and culturally aware, as well as more diverse at every level.

A post shared by G-Eazy (@g_eazy) on Jan 9, 2018 at 3:12pm PST