“What stage of capitalism is this?”: Shein responds after ad featuring Luigi Mangione’s likeness goes viral—and gets clowned harder

Shein is dealing with some serious backlash after a potentially AI-generated model resembling Luigi Mangione was found on their website.

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An image of “Mangione” wearing a short-sleeved button-down shirt went viral on Tuesday after being shared by @PopCrave on X.

It was immediately speculated that the image was created with AI, considering Mangione himself is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York as he awaits a trial date. He has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which took place last December.

Mangione has become a controversial figure since his arrest. No shortage of people have cheered him on for his alleged role in an insurance CEO’s death, citing just how many people suffer and die due to a lack of proper health insurance and care under the current system. Others have remained insistent that celebrating murder is wrong. Many have come to disregard the fact that Mangione has not been tried or convicted entirely.

At any rate, seeing his face pop up on Shein’s website quickly stirred up controversy, prompting Shein to eventually issue a statement.

“The image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery,” a Shein spokesperson told the Daily Dot via email. “We have stringent standards for all listings on our platform. We are conducting a thorough investigation, strengthening our monitoring processes, and will take appropriate action against the vendor in line with our policies.”

Though, as Newsweek pointed out, the shirt appears to have largely sold out prior to being removed from Shein’s website.

Luigi Mangione fans react to the Shein image

While some people found it abhorrent that any company would use the face of a man accused of murder to promote clothing, the internet at large still adores Mangione. So there were folks offended on his behalf that his likeness may have been stolen without permission, while others found humor in the situation.

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Some jokester even went so far as to leave this comment on the GiveSendGo for Mangione’s legal funds:

Shein faces additional backlash

Outside of the commentary specific to Mangione himself, a lot of people just found Shein’s overall statement claiming to have “stringent standards” hilarious.

All the comments surrounding this bizarre situation ultimately served to draw attention to one salient point: