People are mad at Russell Brand, and this time it’s not because he went on a political rant or said something offensive. Consumers are up in arms because some pieces from the British comedian’s so-called “ethical” clothing line were allegedly made by underpaid workers in Bangladesh.
On his website, Brand sells “trinkets” from his clothing line, the Trews. A T-shirt goes for $53 and a sweatshirt goes for $99. The website says all items are “screen printed and produced in the UK” and that “All net profit from the sales of this sweater will be donated to charitable causes. We don’t make a penny!”
But according to the Daily Mail, some pieces are actually being produced in Bangladesh, where workers are being paid just a few cents per hour. They claim the workers work six or seven days per week, and have 11-hour shifts.
Photos supposedly taken of the labels confirm that they say “made in Bangladesh.”
The Mail claims to have spoken to workers at the factory, one of whom reportedly said, “It is a low wage. We know that the factory manufactures for big foreign companies who sell them for big prices, but what can we do?As small workers, we are powerless.”
They’re also calling BS, claiming that only a fraction of the profits from Brand’s merch sales go to charitable causes.
Brand responded to the Mail’s claim on his website and on Facebook:
We found out that a couple of the sizes of sweatshirts we offer may not have been sourced in the ethical way we thought – MADLY the Daily Mail brought this to our attention (snidely) – we’ve responded to em & ironed out a few of their attempts to shit stir. We’ve got shot of the manufacturer so the DM can go back to focusing on their owners dubious tax affairs.
All trews merch profit goes towards building community social enterprise projects
Watch Emperor’s New Clothes to learn more about DM/Rothermere tax scandal
Russell.
Screengrab via Russell Brand/YouTube