Outrage Over Video of French Clothing Company Employees in Blackface, Imitating Monkeys

According to Le Nouvel Observateur, this is a video shot during a private party, the date and location of which have not been specified. Revealed by the Instagram account "Decolonize-us", it shows two women and a man. "The man sometimes imitates a monkey to the sound of music playing Saga Africa, while one of the women is made up in black, to the laughter of the third person," the media describes. Subsequently, outraged Internet users condemned these acts described as racist and discriminatory, and called for a boycott of the company.

Faced with the wave of dissatisfaction from Internet users, the French company reacted. Slip Français published a statement on Twitter in which it "firmly condemns these acts". According to the company, "the employees concerned have been summoned and sanctioned by the management of Slip Français". The leaders of Slip Français, who moreover fear for their image, have hammered that "any racist or discriminatory manifestation is not acceptable for our company".

Last year, a back-to-school photo of employees of this same company had drawn criticism for its lack of diversity. An experience that had tarnished the prestige and image of this company created in 2011 and which now employs more than 200 people, the same source observes.