The creator of a brand of LGBTQ products said he was relieved when Target decided to pull his items from their shelves after he and the retailer received threats and hateful messages.
NEW YORK — When a Target distributor reached out to Erik Carnell last year about possibly placing his brand, Abprallen,It was "the biggest opportunity of my career," Carnell told CNN. "I was ecstatic at the thought of being able to share my stuff with an entirely new market." The London-based Abprallen, described on its Instagram page as "art and accessories for the proud, loud, and colourful," would go from a small startup to a brand available at a major U.S.
But then things fell apart. About a week and a half ago, Carnell said, he started receiving hundreds of hateful messages including death threats, some of them incorrectly saying the collection was being marketed to children, as some people lashed out at Target over its Pride offerings. "Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and well-being while at work,""Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior," Target said."The amount of backlash that I have gotten has been overwhelming," he said.
"I created a couple of pins about six years ago, and it's grown since then," he said. For Carnell, the work is personal.
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