Target is facing backlash over a designer featured in the company’s “Pride” collection who appears to have created products with Satanic imagery.
Scarlett Johnson, an activist from Wisconsin, went viral on Twitter this weekend with a thread explaining why she is “done” with the retailer. In particular, Johnson took issue with Target listing three items on its online store from Abprallen, a London-based designer of products that sometimes mix imagery and messages about gender with the macabre.
None of the three colorful apparel items for sale under the Abprallen label on Target’s website have Satanic imagery. The catalogue includes a “We Belong Everywhere” mini messenger bag for $18, another is a “Too Queer for Here” tote bag for $18, and a third is a “Cure Transphobia, Not Trans People” sweatshirt for $25. All are listed under “Pride Adult Clothing.”
But Johnson highlighted other products for sale that are shown on the Abprallen website and associated Instagram account with about 25,000 followers. Among them is a skeleton draped in rainbow colors, a “Trans Witches For Abortion” badge, and a “Satan respects pronouns” T-shirt.
Why did @target hire a Satanist to design pieces for their recent "Pride" clothing line?
WTF👉🏽"Satan loves you and respects who you are… LGBTQIA+ people are so often referred to as being a product of Satan or going against God's will, so fine. We'll hang with Satan instead." pic.twitter.com/FLsNZNzHNa
— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) May 20, 2023
Johnson’s thread has been retweeted thousands of times since it began on Saturday, with many users criticizing Target and some even calling for a boycott. Others complimented the products and questioned why Johnson had a problem with the designer’s work.
The Daily Wire reached out to the retailer seeking comment on the situation.
The product page for the “Satan respects pronouns” shirt talks about how LGBT+ people are “so often referred to as being a product of Satan or going against God’s will” while making the case that the Church of Satan and The Satanic Temple are more accepting of the gay community.
“Satanists don’t actually believe in Satan, he is merely used as a symbol of passion, pride, and liberty. He means to you what you need him to mean. So for me, Satan is hope, compassion, equality, and love,” the page says. “So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all LGBT+ people.”
Abprallen, according to its “My Story” page, is run by gay trans man named Erik who has a penchant for juxtaposing pastel colors with “spooky things.” The designer’s Instagram account posted in recent weeks about how Abprallen products are being sold by Target after “they approached me to design a range for Pride.”
Even before Johnson’s thread went viral, Target was facing backlash over “tuck-friendly” swimwear for females, as reported by The New York Post, leading some to suggest the retailer would face a wave of backlash akin to the Bud Light controversy over its partnership with self-identified transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.