Molly-Mae Hague and PrettyLittleThing criticised over 'distasteful' 9/11 tribute post
Clothing brand PrettyLittleThing and its new creative director Molly-Mae Hague have been criticised for a "distasteful" post marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The company shared an image across its social media platforms yesterday, featuring a monochrome picture of the World Trade Center overlaid with the words "Never Forget" and the date of the attacks.
Hague, who recently took over the creative director role, shared the image on her own Instagram Stories.
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Social media users noted that the brand had used their trademark font and pink colour for the text on the tribute image, which drew criticism.
One user called the post "disgraceful" and another accused PLT and Hague of "slapping your brand on a tragedy".
here’s your glorified molly mae’s first creative output, making branding an aesthetic out of a tragedy. disgraceful. https://t.co/t9q1d5KYNp
— lito🥐 (@litxllsk) September 11, 2021
Molly Mae off to a flying start https://t.co/Jkz9e1Vm5K
— Alhan Gençay (@alhan) September 11, 2021
Absolutely shocking by PLT this! Distasteful tweet.
— Reverend James (@Adclickk) September 11, 2021
This is absolutely awful. Did nobody stop to consider that slapping your brand on a tragedy is a bad idea?
— Ben Bowman (@woolseverywhere) September 11, 2021
While some were quick to blame Hague for the image, others pointed out that it's unlikely she was directly responsible for the choices.
Yahoo Entertainment UK has reached out to both Hague and PrettyLittleThing for comment.
Read more: Director of 9/11 doc hopes to teach future generations
Many in the celebrity world paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks via social media, marking the impact on New York City and the wider world.
Mark Wahlberg, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis were among those who shared their memories of the horrific day in 2001.
Watch: Steve Buscemi reveals his experience at Ground Zero after 9/11
The controversy over the 9/11 tribute comes just weeks after Molly-Mae Hague was announced as the new creative director of PrettyLittleThing.
Her appointment marks her most high-profile achievement since her popularity as an influencer exploded in the wake of her runner-up performance in the 2019 series of reality TV show Love Island.
Read more: Molly-Mae reveals she tries to distance herself from Love Island
Despite the prominence of Love Island, Hague has said she believes she would have achieved the same successes without taking part.
She said: "The things that I've achieved since coming out of that show aren't really down to the show. They're more down to my drive and ambition to do big things."
Watch: Molly-Mae reveals why she had lip fillers removed
