A Victoria's Secret executive apologized on Friday for saying he didn't think transgender models should be cast in the lingerie brand's annual fashion show.
Ed Razek, the chief marketing officer of the Victoria's Secret parent company, L Brands, sparked an outcry after telling Vogue in an interview that he didn't think the annual fashion shows should feature "transsexuals" because "the show is a fantasy."
"It's a 42-minute entertainment special. That's what it is," he said. "It is the only one of its kind in the world, and any other fashion brand in the world would take it in a minute, including the competitors that are carping at us."
Razek also said in the interview that the company had considered casting both transgender models and plus-sized models in the show in the past.
"We market to who we sell to, and we don't market to the whole world," he said. "We attempted to do a television special for plus-sizes [in 2000]. No one had any interest in it, still don't."
But Razek apologized for the remark about transgender models in a statement released by Victoria's Secret late Friday. He said the company would, indeed, cast transgender models, though none have made the cut in the past.
"My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We've had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn't make it…But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are."
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