Footballer Romelu Lukaku and basketball superstar LeBron James today lent their support to a young H&M model pictured wearing a jumper inscribed with “coolest monkey in the jungle.”

The sports stars called the young boy a “king” and urged him: “Don’t let anybody tell you different.”

Manchester United player Lukaku posting an altered version of the advert with “black is beautiful” written on the jumper instead on the controversial phrase.

In the caption, the 24-year-old wrote: “You’re prince soon to be a king. Don’t let anybody tell you different #blackexcellence.”

NBA star James, 33, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, posted a similar image with the caption: “[H&M] u got us all wrong! And we ain’t going for it! Straight up! Enough about y’all and more of what I see when I look at this photo.

“I see a Young King!! The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied! We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that’s what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!!”

The clothing giant has now removed the advert from its UK website and scrapped the product from its line after it was widely criticised.

An H&M representative said: “We understand that many people are upset about the image. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print.

“Therefore, we have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally.”