Victoria's Secret 'sorry' for transgender model comments - BBC News
A top executive of the lingerie chain had suggested transgender models should not be in its shows.
Victoria's Secret has been grappling with falling sales since 2016

Victoria's Secret chief marketing officer has apologised for comments he made about transgender models.

In an interview with Vogue magazine, Ed Razek had said the lingerie company's annual shows were "a fantasy" and should not include them. Mr Razek later said his remarks were "insensitive".

The 2018 show took place on 8 November in New York, featuring models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner.

Victoria's Secret has been grappling with falling sales since 2016.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

In a wide-ranging interview published on Thursday, Mr Razek and the company's executive vice-president of public relations, Monica Mitro, were asked whether the brand was putting more emphasis on diversity.

Mr Razek, who is part of the casting team, admitted that he had "considered" putting transgender and plus-sized models in the show, but had not as the company "did not market to the whole world".

Mr Razek went on to say: "Does the brand think about diversity? Yes. Do we offer larger sizes? Yes... Shouldn't you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don't think we should."

"The show is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is. It is the only one of its kind in the world," he said.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Cora Harrington This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Following a backlash on social media, Victoria's Secret released a statement from Mr Razek on Twitter, which read:

"To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model in our show. We've had transgender models come to castings... And like many others, they didn't make it."

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 2 by Victoria's Secret This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

"It was never about gender," he added.

Others defended Mr Razek's comments, arguing shoppers did not have to buy the product if they did not agree with the company's ethos.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 3 by The Muse This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. End of twitter post 3 by The Muse

Victoria's Secret operates in 80 countries worldwide, and opened two flagship stories in China in 2017.