Online retailers have stopped selling merchandise with Kurt Cobain’s suicide letter printed on them after a petition was launched critising the “glamourisation” of mental illness and comparing the items to “shirts depicting a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.”
The late Nirvana frontman’s suicide note was printed in its entirety on shirts that were purchasable on eBay and Etsy this week. The shirts have since been removed after attention was drawn to them via social media, as well as the petition, which has so far received 175 signatures.
Julian Godlnez, who launched the petition, wrote that they “are a huge insult and slap to the face toward the legend Kurt Cobain himself, but as well as to all of his loved ones, his devoted fans, his legacy, and most importantly people around the world who currently suffer with mental illnesses of their own such as depression, anxiety and self image dysphoria.”
Godlnez continued: “Mental illness and suicidal behavior is not a fashion statement, and it is not meant to be glamorised or flaunted about on a t-shirt. These shirts do nothing but encourage impressionable minds that these tendencies and behaviours are something to be displayed proudly or as some sort of cool status. Wearing this merchandise is no different than wearing a shirt with a depiction of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.”