H&M Declares It has the Rights to Sell Justin Bieber’s Images

• Justin Bieber had lashed out at H&M on Instagram for selling “trash” merch featuring his image.
• Thursday’s clarification by the Swedish fast-fashion giant confirmed that it has the right to sell merchandise featuring the imagery of the singer.
• H&M said it still RemovedBieber will be pleased to accept the items that were sold “out of respect”.

The ongoing tiff between Canadian singer Justin Bieber and Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M has intensified. 

H&M said on Thursday it had obtained the rights to sell merchandise featuring Bieber’s imagery, following the artist’s harsh criticism that he “didn’t approve” them.

“Justin’s license holder has confirmed that H&M had the right contracts in place and followed all proper approval procedures for each selected design,” the Stockholm-based retailer said in a statement.

Bieber had posted a scathing review of the items on Monday on Instagram, where he called them “trash” as well as urging his 270 million followers to not buy them. He stated, “I did not approve it.”

H&M’s online store was offering hoodies, t-shirts and sweatshirts with pictures of Bieber or quotes from his lyrics such as “I miss you more than life” from the song “Ghost” for prices between $49.80-$114.

H&M has now said it removed the merch from its stores and website “out of respect” for Bieber.

Insider sent a request for comment from Bieber representatives, but they did not respond immediately.

The fracas surrounding H&M came amid weak sales at the company, as consumers tighten spending in the uncertain market environment. In November, H&M started laying off 1,500 staff to cut costs.

H&M is the world’s second-largest fashion retailer after Inditex, the owner of Zara.

H&M shares are down about 37% this year.