In December 2022, Justin Bieber criticised the Swedish fashion giant H&M for selling merchandise that featured his image.
He told his 270 million Instagram followers that the merchandise was “trash” and stated that he did not approve it and that “I wouldn’t buy it if I were you”.
H&M did have the rights to sell the merchandise and confirmed that it “followed all proper approval procedures”. However, H&M removed the products from sale “out of respect for Justin”.
This highlights the importance of having clear approval procedures in place and ensuring such procedures include permission from the talent to use their intellectual property rights. Even if H&M did decide to continue selling the merchandise, its main target market (Justin Bieber fans) is now unlikely to purchase it after Justin’s statement. This demonstrates that global superstars have the influence to impact the success of such collections notwithstanding the talent approval process.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-64050611
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