The online fast-fashion giant said the listing — which has been removed — was uploaded by a third-party vendor
The fast-fashion retailer Shein has removed a photo of what appeared to be Luigi Mangione modeling a short-sleeve button-down shirt and launched an investigation.
The listing was widely clocked on the online retailer’s website yesterday, though it’s unclear how long it had been up. The shirt was being worn by a model that looked strikingly like the 27-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. As the BBC notes, the shirt was selling for just under $10.
In a statement, a Shein spokesperson said the platform had nothing to do with the image, saying it was “provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery.” The spokesperson continued: “We are conducting a thorough investigation, strengthening our monitoring processes, and will take appropriate action against the vendor in line with our policies.”
The alleged third-party vendor was not identified. Lawyers for Mangione did not immediately return a request for comment.
It’s unclear exactly how the image was generated, whether it was using artificial intelligence or if it was more of an old-school Photoshop job. One AI expert told the BBC the image had a tell-tale signs of AI generation or manipulation, such as “the lighting and texturing of the image, particularly of the skin, as well as the appearance of a blob-like artifact above the right forearm. The right hand also doesn’t appear to show typical segmentation of the fingers.”
Trending Stories
Shein is far from the first online retailer to run into trouble with third-party vendors hocking controversial wares or flouting policy standards. Back in 2024, for instance, Walmart was forced to remove a pair of T-shirts for the infamous white-power band Skrewdriver uploaded by a third-party.
Online retailers have been forced to deal with Mangione-specific merchandise, too, much of it catering to those who have turned Mangione into something of a folk hero in light of their immense dissatisfaction with America’s privatized healthcare system. After his arrest late last year, Mangione merch — everything from coffee mugs to t-shirts — quickly flooded sites like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, with all three retailers moving quickly to take the listings down.