Lululemon Fired An Art Director Over This “Inappropriate & Inexcusable” ‘Bat Fried Rice’ Tee

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Published

April 22, 2020

Activewear chain Lululemon has fired an art director for promoting a ‘Bat Fried Rice’ shirt amid the coronavirus pandemic, TMZ reports.

The popular exercise apparel brand apologised for its involvement in the controversy, which kicked off after Lululemon employee Trevor Fleming shared a link to the shirt for sale by California artist Jess Sluder.

The white and red long-sleeve t-shirt features chopsticks with bat wings on the front and a Chinese takeout box with bat wings on the back, along with the words “No Thank You” on the box, down the sleeves and on the back.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, Sluder thanked shoppers for their support and sense of humour.

“Where did COVID-19 come from? Nothing is certain, but we know a bat was involved,” he wrote.

The hashtag “Lululemon insults China” went viral, with some commentators demanding a boycott of the brand.

Lululemon responded to the outrage over its affiliation with the shirt by firing Fleming and labelling the shirt’s message as “discriminatory”.

The company released a statement that reads:“The T-shirt is not a Lululemon product. We apologise that an employee was affiliated with promoting an offensive T-shirt and we take this very seriously,” the company said.

“The image and the post were inappropriate and inexcusable. We acted immediately, and the person involved is no longer an employee of Lululemon.”