Canadian Retailer Recalls Anti-Gay Hate Obscene ESPN Produced Child’s Tee Shirt

Zellers, the Canadian retailer, has agreed to a national recall of an item of children’s clothing after a Winnipeg, Manitoba woman, Ashley Simpson, complained that an X Game graphic tee shirt she bought for her 4 year old son Hartley was obscene. The shirt, according to the Winnipeg Free Press story, was printed with a picture of skateboarder on front with a large X Games logo. There was other small lettering on the shirt that Simpson says she did not read till she bought the item home “There were two paragraphs repeated,” she says. “There was something about listening to (rap group) Mafia, going up to Santa Monica Boulevard, a guy spotting some trannies (transsexuals). Then it said: ‘We started egging some trannies and that was fun.’” The shirt also contains the phrase “What the fuck?” Simpson says “I showed it to a couple of people. They thought I was kidding. How could you have this on a kid’s rack? It’s hate-mongering. What kind of parent would want their child wearing this?” X Game Clothing is produced by ESPN Consumer Products (whose parent company is Walt Disney), and although an ESPN spokesperson suggesting initially that the shirt might have been pirated, there is no evidence to support that claim. Tuesday afternoon, Chris Busch, the vice-president of marketing for ESPN, confirmed that an investigation is underway. “We apologize to our customers and our fans out there. It is clearly an isolated situation. It really is a failure in our review process.” He added that all of the shirts have been removed from stores and have been destroyed. The shirt was not sold in the United States, and the reminder of the line, minus the deeply offensive shirt, is still being sold at Zellers. Simpson says she returned the shirt and received her money back, as well as assurance that a representative from Zellers or its parent company HBC would contact her. That has yet to happen.