AP/Andy Wong
- CEO of Victoria’s Secret slammed President Trump in a public video, claiming his comments on immigration were “not acceptable.”
- Victoria’s Secrets has frequently been criticized for not being diverse.
- The CEO’s comments show his lack of awareness of the brand’s image.
Victoria’s Secret has a huge problem with diversity, but its CEO won’t acknowledge it.
This month, billionaire businessman Les Wexner publically slammed Trump online after his controversial comments on immigration.
During a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, who were seeking to resolve The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects young unauthorized immigrants from deportation and is being phased out by the Trump administration, the President said: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”
“This is not acceptable,” Wexner said in response.
This is the second time that Wexner has spoken out against the President. In August, he criticised Trump’s comments after a woman was killed by a white supremacist during a racially-charged rally in Charlottesville.
His thoughts this month echoed this: “Hearing the remarks of yesterday, I repeat that this is not acceptable.”
While Wexner has been applauded for standing up for equality and diversity against Trump, he has failed to demonstrate this in own business.
Valerie Macon/Getty Images
Victoria’s Secret has frequently been criticized for the lack of diversity in its ad campaigns and runway shows, which feature rail-thin models. In November 2017, around the time of its annual show, plus-size model Ashley Graham posted a doctored Instagram of herself with a sarcastic comment which said: “Got my wings!” Despite this outcry online, the brand has failed to cater to plus-size customers.
And to its detriment, the store was once the kingpin of the US lingerie market but in recent years has lost market share to more body positive brands.
In the past year, Victoria’s Secret has seen negative same-store sales growth. Meanwhile, Aerie, which promotes natural beauty and self-acceptance in its ad campaigns, has seen 11 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth.
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