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Mum of boy in H&M ad brands controversy 'unnecessary'

In the wake of the backlash clothing giant H&M has received over a "racist" ad of a young black boy wearing a "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle" hoodie, the child's mother now seems to have spoken out.

A woman who identifies as Terry Mango has come forward claiming she is the boy's mother and has branded the controversy surrounding the ad "unnecessary".

"Am the mum and this is one of hundreds of outfits my son has modelled," she wrote on social media. "...stop crying wolf all the time, unnecessary issue here... get over it."

Many have branded this advert from H&M as
Many have branded this advert from H&M as
A woman who identifies as Terry Mango has come forward claiming she is the boy's mother and has branded the controversy surrounding the ad
A woman who identifies as Terry Mango has come forward claiming she is the boy's mother and has branded the controversy surrounding the ad



Be have reached out to Terry to verify her claims she is the little boy's mother.

Many have spoken out against H&M for the recent advert including Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, The Weeknd and Sean 'Diddy' Combs.

Jesse himself starred in one of their holiday campaigns last year because of the diversity H&M promoted but has since changed his tune.

Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, here in Los Angeles in December 2017, has branded H&M as
Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, here in Los Angeles in December 2017, has branded H&M as

He slammed the retailer for their "pathetic excuse for corporate behaviour and irresponsibility".

"The collateral damage of this corporate, colonial mind-state occurs several times a year," he said on Instagram posting a picture of the H&M board of directors, "and it’s predictable the world over, like the seasons, so when I laid eyes on it, my initial reaction was neither shock nor anger. It was boredom."

"This old world, white power, failing-upward culture of reckless trampling that repeatedly exposes itself, is boring already," he continued. "Aren’t you bored?"

Jesse's full post on Instagram. Source: Instagram / @ijessewilliams
Jesse's full post on Instagram. Source: Instagram / @ijessewilliams

The 36-year-old isn't the only celebrity to call out the clothing retailer.

Both The Weeknd and P Diddy took to social media earlier this week to cut ties with the brand over the ad.

"Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore (sic)," The Weeknd wrote on Twitter.

"Put some respect on it!! When you look at us make sure you see royalty and super natural God sent glory!! Anything else is disrespectful," P Diddy said on Instagram.



H&M has since responded to the controversy in a statement on Twitter.

"We understand that many people are upset about the image of the children's hoodie," the company said. "We, who work at H&M can only agree.

"We're deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we've not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering.

"It's obvious that our routines haven't been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We'll thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again."

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