Sears is responding to critics and removing a controversial hat from its website, the retailer confirmed to Fortune this afternoon.
The hat is emblazoned with the word “infidel”, and was first pointed out by a user on Twitter.
“Infidel” is a term often used by anti-Muslim protesters. It is co-opted from Islamic extremists who use the word to describe people that aren’t Muslim and especially Westerners. Clothes bearing the term have often been seen at protests of mosques and Islamic community centers.
Instead of buying your "Infidel" hat from fringe websites – you can now get from @Sears?http://t.co/KHV63irM9D pic.twitter.com/XCFDY3ChFK
— Imraan Siddiqi (@imraansiddiqi) October 19, 2015
In an e-mailed statement to Fortune, Sears confirmed that the hat was sold by a third party vendor, and said that “Given the feedback we’ve received it is being removed.”
Correction, October 20, 2015: An earlier version of this story misstated the meaning of Arabic characters on the hat.
