Prada Probed For 'Blackface' By NYC Commission On Human Rights

SOHO, NY — The city has launched an investigation into Prada after a Soho store was blasted on social media for displaying racist figurines.

New York City's Commission on Human Rights announced it has opened a formal probe into Prada after the Broadway store showcased a line of collectibles, known as Pradamalia, that include a $500 dark-wood monkey keychain named Otto with oversized red lips and bulging eyes, the commission recently announced.

Otto, the dark-wood monkey figurine with large red lips, is part of the Pradamalia product line.

"In a time when reports of anti-Black discrimination and racism are increasing, it is appalling to see this kind of blatantly racists displays and merchandise from Prada," assistant commissioner Sapna V. Raj said in a statement.

"Black New Yorkers face discrimination and bias every day. To see racist Jim Crow-era imagery so patently on display at an international luxury retailer's storefront is appalling and not tolerated in our city."

Prada pulled the controversial product line amid the outrage and has pledged to donate money made from the items to a "New York-based organization committed to fighting for racial justice."

“We would like to convey our deep regret and sincere apologies for the Pradamalia products that were offensive," the company wrote in a Sunday statement posted on Twitter.

The Commission on Human Rights is also looking into a report that an employee at the Soho store was retaliated against for complaining about the display.

Civil rights attorney Chinyere Ezie with the Center for Constitutional Rights spotted the figurines as she passed the store last week and slammed the products as "bewildering examples of their Sambo like imagery" on social media, noting that when she confronted an employee she was told a worker who complained "didn't work there anymore."

“When I asked a Prada employee whether they knew they had plastered blackface imagery throughout their store, in a moment of surprising candor I was told that a black employee had previously complained about blackface at Prada, but he didn’t work there anymore,” Ezie wrote in a Facebook post.

The city has ordered the luxury Italian brand to provide New York City Human Rights Law training to its employees, executives and independent contractors.

"The Commission is taking swift action to demand Prada immediately comply with the NYC Human Rights Law, examine internal practices, issue an apology to all New Yorkers, and refrain from engaging in this type of harmful and discriminatory conduct in the future," Raj said.

Photo courtesy of flair fashion/Youtube