Swedish clothing retailer H&M ( HMb.ST ) said on Thursday it has the right to sell Justin Bieber merchandise that was pulled from stores this week after the pop star said he had not given his approval.
“Justin’s license holder has confirmed that H&M had the correct contracts in place and followed all appropriate approval procedures for each selected design,” H&M wrote in a statement.
On Monday, Bieber urged his 270 million Instagram followers not to buy the merchandise, calling it “rubbish” and saying it was on sale without his approval. H&M pulled the items from sale.
“Out of respect for Justin, we have removed the products from our site and stores, and we are working to find the best way to use them,” H&M said, adding that the company had partnered with Bieber since 2016. It has
H&M, the world’s second-largest fashion retailer, offered hoodies, T-shirts and sweatshirts with images of Bieber or quotes from his lyrics, such as “I miss you more than life” from the “Ghost” song. … Reuters