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​Saira Khan Defends H&M's Controversial Hoody On 'Loose Women'

​Saira Khan Defends H&M's Controversial Hoody On 'Loose Women'

While many people are condemning the high street chain, Loose Women​'s Saira Khan has said she'd buy the top for her kid.

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Clothing giant H&M has been in the news a lot lately for all the wrong reasons, after an image appeared on its UK website of a black child modelling a hoody with a slogan that read 'Coolest Monkey In the Jungle'. Meanwhile, over on Loose Women...

Credit: ITV / Loose Women

Although many people are condemning the high street chain for the incident, the show's Saira Khan has defended the company - and has even said she'd buy the top for her kid.

"I looked at that and I saw a little kid wearing a little T-shirt," she said on Loose Women.

"I didn't even make a connection between racism and that top.

"I've got a mixed race child and I would buy that top - because he is a cheeky little monkey, I tell you. I just think that's the kind of thing that I would buy.

"I think you have to have a racist mind to make that link. I don't look at my life through racism.

"Now it's been pointed out I feel uncomfortable," she admitted.

ITV/Loose Women

But she also felt it wasn't an intentional move from H&M.

"I don't think H&M have done this deliberately. I think it's a genuine mistake because they have promoted a lot of diversity in their other campaigns."

Since the image went viral, the Swedish clothing brand has faced a great deal of backlash not only from members of the public, but also celebrities.

After launching his debut brand with H&M in 2017, the Weeknd has confirmed he will never work with the Swedish brand again after the clothing store was forced to apologise.

"Woke up this morning shocked and embarassed by this photo," the singer said on Twitter. "I'm deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore."

P Diddy took to his Twitter and Instagram pages with an amended version of the image, where the offending slogan had been replaced with 'Coolest King In The World'. He's also reportedly looking to offer the child a $1 million (£730,000) modelling contract with his own brand, Sean John.

An H&M spokeswoman said that the image has now been removed from all H&M channels, and the company apologises to anyone who may have been offended.

The company took to Twitter to explain more, saying: "We understand that many people are upset about the image of the children's hoodie. 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."

Featured Image Credit: ITV/Loose Women

Topics: uk tv, UK News, TV and Film, News, Loose Women, TV