Forever 21 Just Apologized for Using a White Model to Sell a ‘Black Panther’ Sweater

From Cosmopolitan

There’s no doubt that Marvel’s Black Panther-the second mainstream superhero movie featuring a black hero-was monumental for black America and was a celebration of black excellence. So when Forever 21 decided to use a white model to sell a “Wakanda Forever” sweater, people were understandably upset.

Here’s a photo of the model wearing a sweater with a slogan for the fictional Sub-Saharan African country of Wakanda, the home of the Black Panther.

After the company tweeted a link with a picture of the model, Twitter was quick to tell them it was incredibly tone-deaf.

Of course, there are some people who think there’s nothing wrong with using a white model to sell the sweater. Plus, some were way more upset because they didn’t like the design. One user wrote, “It’s dope that after years of black kids wearing Superman and a host of white heroes, a black hero is right there in the mix.”

Forever 21 clearly heard about the controversy because it has since issued an apology. As the clothing company of your high school days removed the photo from its site, it issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. The brand said, “Forever 21 takes feedback on our products and marketing extremely seriously. We celebrate all superheroes with many different models of various ethnicities and apologize if the photo in question was offensive in any way.”

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