Converse has pulled an advertisement featuring aespa member Karina and issued a public apology after the image drew accusations of evoking Ku Klux Klan and lynching imagery, in a controversy that escalated from social media criticism to a statement from a sitting member of Congress.
The Instagram ad, part of Converse's campaign for the Chuck 70 X and Run Star Crush sneakers, showed Karina wearing a Converse T-shirt, a calf-length white skirt and black Converse shoes, posing as a star-shaped light — a nod to the brand's logo — appeared on the floor and wall around her. In a still image from the campaign, Karina is shown holding black high-top shoes beneath the star-shaped spotlight while wearing the long white skirt.
Karina of K-Pop group Aespa was featured in a new Converse All-Stars ad for Asian markets. The American internet decided it was racist. The rest of the world said "stop looking at everything through racism colored glasses," "the whole world doesn't revolve around you, sheesh." pic.twitter.com/pr3Y5G9j0M
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) September 19, 2026
Critics said a white triangular shape created by the lighting on the skirt resembled a KKK hood, and that the way she held the sneakers made them look like the dangling feet of a lynching victim. The image spread quickly across social platforms, with commenters questioning how the ad could have cleared Converse's advertising vetting process and calling for a boycott of the brand.
Converse, which is owned by Nike, removed the ad and responded with an apology on Friday. "We're sorry," the brand said in a statement. "We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong. We removed it from our channels and are working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened and we will do better." Converse, based in Boston, declined to answer additional questions on Sunday about how the campaign was screened and approved.
Converse apologizes for shoe ads that critics blasted as evoking the KKK https://t.co/fpi8ITThA7 pic.twitter.com/rhYhu4niYg
— New York Post (@nypost) September 19, 2026
The backlash drew a formal response from Rep. Troy Carter, a Louisiana Democrat, who called the campaign's imagery unacceptable. "Who created this campaign? Who approved it? How many executives saw it? Were there any Black people in the room? If so, did anyone listen to them?" Carter said in a statement, adding that Converse and Nike do not "get a do-over." His office also said an apology and the removal of the images were not enough, calling for Nike and Converse to explain how the campaign was approved and to commission an independent investigation.
The controversy widened after a separate Converse campaign image resurfaced online. That photo, promoting a collaboration with the Danish lifestyle brand Palmes, showed a person standing on a ladder holding shoes near a tree branch, and social media users began circulating the two images together, saying the second one intensified their concerns about the visual associations in the Karina campaign. Reporting on the episode has noted, however, that the two images came from separate campaigns and that no evidence has established either was deliberately designed to evoke racist imagery.
Reaction to the controversy has not been uniform. Alongside the criticism, a segment of social media users — including many international K-pop fans — pushed back on the racist reading of the image, arguing the interpretation reads intent into a lighting effect and pose that were not designed with those associations in mind. That counter-reaction has itself become part of the online conversation surrounding the ad, though it remains social media commentary rather than an independently documented consensus, and FashionTimes has not verified claims characterizing global sentiment on either side of the debate.
Karina and her management company, SM Entertainment, had not publicly addressed the controversy as of the time of Converse's apology. The episode adds Converse to a recent run of fashion and retail brands, including Target's pulled Halloween costume last month, that have apologized for imagery critics said carried racist connotations, underscoring how quickly a single campaign image can generate global scrutiny once it begins circulating on social platforms.
