J. Crew’s Alejandro Rhett laid off after insensitive Instagram post

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jun 21, 2015

The vice president of men’s merchandising at J. Crew, Alejandro Rhett has reportedly been laid off by the retailer as reported by The Daily. Rhett posted a photo on Instagram mocking former colleagues that had been let go by the company recently, which landed him on the cover of the New York Post with the headline “J. Cruel.”

 
The 32-year old Georgetown University alum is believed to have fired staff members prior to posing for photos with the hashtags, “#hungergames” and “#maytheoddsbeeverinyourfavor,” which refers to the ”death match” plot in the blockbuster movie, The Hunger Games. Three other J. Crew employees that took part in the photo op, Julie Stamos, Vanessa de Jesus, and retail men’s merchandiser Andrew Ruth, are also believed to have their jobs in jeopardy.
 
A representative at J. Crew told The Daily: “We do not condone this behavior in any way. Individuals’ actions do not represent the culture of our company–this is not who we are. The tough decisions we made last week were not something we took lightly. We do our best to make decisions with care & compassion for all of our associates.”

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J. Crew recently fired 175 employees this month and replaced the heads of women’s design for its namesake brand and its Madewell line. The company is currently restructuring to bounce back from its sales struggles. Gap and Target share similar issues with the Gap announcing that it will close 175 stores and cut jobs at its headquarters, and Target laying off 1,700 employees this year and an additional 140 jobs this month.
 
J. Crew has not confirmed nor denied that it has parted ways with Alejandro Rhett.