'This is SO not acceptable!': 'Kunta Kinte' calls out Prada over red-lipped monkey accessories

Prada, step right up, you’re the next contestant on “This Product is Racist!”

Prada is being accused of using 'blackface imagery' with its new line of monkey-like trinkets https://t.co/jm6nlDioeK

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) December 14, 2018

WTF are the pink ones though and which race do they offend?

Prada accused of using blackface imagery at NYC store and online https://t.co/Q7WvmEaTjg pic.twitter.com/C0bIwwbSbK

— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 14, 2018

Apparently, there is an entire line of these … things:

So clearly @Prada has no friends, employees of color or even someone who has the testicular fortitude to tell them this #Pradamalia is racist. So here you go @Prada THIS IS RACIST! #FridayThoughts #FridayFeeIing #FridayMotivation pic.twitter.com/Ntyl4XpTRG

— Nolan V Rollins (@RollinsNolan) December 14, 2018

And they make fun of us for wearing cargo shorts:

So #sambo is the new high fashion? Wtf?! #TeamDL #Prada #racism “I never knew” in my best tonybakercomedy voice #Repost @balleralert with get_repost
・・・
Prada Faces Backlash After Selling… https://t.co/jmysHiHRUD

— DL Hughley (@RealDLHughley) December 15, 2018

Actor LeVar Burton, who played “Kunta Kinte” in the hit TV series “Roots,” told Prada that the monkeys were not acceptable:

Dear @prada
Come on, y’all…
This is SO not acceptable!
Sincerely,
Kunta https://t.co/3kmOCsqLN6

— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) December 14, 2018

Prada had originally defended the monkeys, telling a reporter from Gothamist to “do some research”:

.@Prada demands reporters ‘do some research’ on their RACIST collection b4 issuing a PR-crafted apology.
Maybe Prada shoulda done some research about their OWN product & violent history of blackface, before leveraging it for profit.
Apology is hollow + inadequate.
.@lawyergrrl pic.twitter.com/RMDLuvVckG

— Jhanavi Pathak (@JhanaviPathak) December 14, 2018

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But they have since apologized for how the “imaginary creatures” were perceived:

[1/2] #Prada Group abhors racist imagery. The Pradamalia are fantasy charms composed of elements of the Prada oeuvre. They are imaginary creatures not intended to have any reference to the real world and certainly not blackface.

— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018

[2/] #Prada Group never had the intention of offending anyone and we abhor all forms of racism and racist imagery. In this interest we will withdraw the characters in question from display and circulation.

— PRADA (@Prada) December 14, 2018

And pulled them from its stores:

NYC Prada pulls display after accusations of blackface imagery https://t.co/94AZtCkWeE pic.twitter.com/OQLTPVhcuW

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) December 14, 2018

Hide the monkey!

NEW: Workers at Prada SoHo scramble to remove display depicting blackface characters after onslaught of criticism online @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/FgK6oH7cIR

— Andrew Ramos (@AndrewRamosTV) December 14, 2018

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