Lilly Pulitzer faces backlash for fat-shaming cartoons at headquarters
Clothing company Lilly Pulitzer recently invited The Cut into their headquarters to offer fans a glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes. Unfortunately for them, the company is now getting press for an undesirable reason: Degrading, hand-drawn cartoons hanging in an employee’s office.
“Just another day of… Fat, white and hideous… You should probably just kill yourself,” one picture said.
Another, sketch depicting a woman in a bikini, read, “Put it down carb face.”
pics of Lilly Pulitzer offices but LP staff forgot to take down fat-shaming cartoons on fridge http://t.co/FnV9ldp4aY pic.twitter.com/o4FcSSrhsa
— Caro (@socarolinesays) May 26, 2015
The Business Insider, the first to note the picture, said the slide was initially presented without comment, even though other images in the slideshow included interesting notes about the company. The caption has since been updated to say, “This image shows the personal illustrations of an employee not pictured in this story.”
Spokesperson Jane Schoenborn later said in a statement that the pictures aren’t representative of the company.
“While we are an employer that does encourage people to decorate their own space, we are a female-dominated company and these images do not reflect our values,” she said. “We apologize for any harm this may have caused.”
The latest controversy comes after Lilly Pulitzer’s Target plus-size line was (controversially) not offered in stores. Some people are now calling for a boycott. Do you think that’s an overreaction, or were the cartoons unacceptable?
