Celebrities break off relationships with D&G after controversy
Furious A-listers, boycotting models and a cancelled show
The clip released by Dolce & Gabbana on its Instagram and Sina Weibo accounts show a female Asian model in a glitzy red Dolce & Gabbana dress using chopsticks to eat pizza and other Italian foods.
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It was intended to promote the Shanghai show, but sparked outcry in China for its insensitivity, in part because of the model awkwardly attempting to eat Western food with chopsticks.
Early Wednesday morning, in a chat on Instagram between a netizen named "michaelatranova" and someone using the personal account of Stefano Gabbana, one of the brand's co-founders, Gabbana allegedly made insulting references toward China and Chinese people.
Dolce & Gabbana posted an announcement on its Weibo account saying: "Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana. Our legal office is urgently investigating. We are sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorized posts. We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China."
Indignation arose among Chinese netizens, with many calling on Wednesday for the show to be canceled. A-list celebrities such as Chen Kun, Huang Xiaoming and Li Bingbing said they would not attend
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi wrote "Self humiliation" on her Weibo account, alongside a picture responding to Gabbana's remarks.
Many Chinese modeling agencies, as well as models who were scheduled to walk the show, also said they would not be attending the event after the incident.
Dolce & Gabbana canceled “The Great Show”, originally scheduled to be held last night in Shanghai, hours before it was scheduled to begin.
The brand did not give further details about the cancellation.
