Ed Razek says his comments were “insensitive.”
This past Thursday, the chief marketing officer of Victoria’s Secret Ed Razek and the company’s executive vice-president of public relations, Monica Mitro, sat down for an interview with the prestigious Vogue magazine. When the interviewer asked the two executives whether the show was attempting to increase diversity amongst the models, Razel revealed that brand had “considered” the addition of transgender and plus-sized models in the show, but ultimately decided against the move because the aforementioned models “did not market to the whole world.”
Razek expressed, “Does the brand think about diversity? Yes. Do we offer larger sizes? Yes… Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should.” He added, “The show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is. It is the only one of its kind in the world.”
Razek’s comments were immediately met with a great deal of backlash, prompting the senior creative to issue an official apology. “My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive,” he wrote. “I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it… But it was never about gender.”
The issue has sparked debate on social media, with many commentators offering varying perspectives. Check out some of the tweets below.
Please read this important message from Ed Razek, Chief Marketing Officer, L Brands (parent company of Victoria’s Secret). pic.twitter.com/CW8BztmOaM
— Victoria's Secret (@VictoriasSecret) November 10, 2018
A) He's not wrong – they sell a fantasy.
B) If you don't LIKE that fantasy, don't buy their product.It's not that difficult, folks.
⚡️ “Victoria's Secret CMO says sorry for comments about transgender inclusion”https://t.co/DNkwskp5Ca
— The Muse (@The_AmusingMuse) November 10, 2018
An 80 year old man owns the company and a 70 year old man runs it. And their archaic perspectives – on women, on gender, on plus size folks, on trans folks – are making VS a worse brand by the day.
— Cora Harrington (@lingerie_addict) November 9, 2018