Italian designer Marcelo Burlon apologises for calling Madonna a ‘human toilet’

‘I would like to ask forgiveness and express my most sincere regret to Madonna’

Italian fashion designer Marcelo Burlon has issued a public apology after calling Madonna a “human toilet” in a Facebook post about the singer.

On Sunday, Madonna was picturing arriving to the airport dressed in County of Milan, the brand which Burlon is creative director for.

In response to the pop star’s outfit choice, Burlon shared the images on Facebook with an accompanying caption in which he refers to Madonna as “la cessa,” Italian slang for “human toilet”.

“And the time finally came that Madonna, la cessa, wore County of Milan,” the designer wrote in Italian. “I want to guarantee that nobody has given her anything for free, but that she paid with your money.”

According to Diet Prada, an account that regularly calls out the behaviour of celebrities, which captured screenshots of the post, la cessa is slang and roughly translates to “human toilet” or “ugly as f***”.

“Marcelo Burlon proving to be human garbage,” the Instagram account wrote alongside a photo of the Facebook post. “After deleting the Facebook post, Burlon began publicising those same photos on Instagram stories.”

Diet Prada also shared screenshots of Burlon’s apology, which he shared on Instagram stories.

“I criticised Madonna for her outfit and talking bulls**t about her,” the designer wrote. “I would like just to apologise and nothing else.”

In a lengthier apology post on Instagram, Burlon said he was sorry for his “huge mistake”, adding that the experience taught him “social media is a tool which can often be used for a frivolous laugh, but what I really learned today is that this should never ever be at the expense of another person, or group of people”.

The designer also said his decision to refer to Madonna with the Italian slur was “haphazard and irresponsible” and that his intention was “never to provoke antagonism or hate”.

“I made a naive and stupid mistake but the root of this should not be misunderstood as misogynistic because that was in no way my motivation,” he said. “As anyone close to me can attest, I have always attempted to effectively live my life without gender, age, or racially based prejudice. I am not perfect, and I too learn daily from my surroundings which is why I would sincerely like to punctuate that there was in no way malicious intent based on gender or age in my post.”

The designer concluded the post promising his followers that he intends to learn from his mistake.

Despite apologising, Burlon has continued to face criticism, with many calling his behaviour and comments “misogynistic” and for him to be “cancelled”.

The designer’s apology has also been deemed insincere, with some people suggesting it was written by a PR professional.

“This apology is so transparent and insincere,” one person wrote, while another said: “Clearly didn’t write this himself. It’s got PR written all over it.”

Others have compared Burlon’s behaviour to Dolce and Gabbana designer Stefano Gabbana, who regularly faces backlash for his controversial comments.