Dolce & Gabbana in China storm over videos seen as racist | Advertising

The storm intensified after screenshots of incendiary messages sent from co-founder Stefano Gabbana’s Instagram account leaked on the platform and top Chinese talent pulled out of the event. The brand said in social media posts that its account and that of Gabbana had been hacked.

The videos show a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian dishes like spaghetti and cannoli pastry with a pair of chopsticks. They were originally posted this week on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging service, and were deleted after a widespread backlash. The clips could still be viewed on the company’s Instagram account as of Wednesday.