Manila: The owner of a popular men's magazine and a model apologised to critics, who reacted to a cover they believed was racist.
The cover of FHM Philippines showed a fair Filipino-British national in pink bikini in the foreground and five black women in black bikinis in the background, with a caption that said, "Bela Padilla [the fair model] stepping out of the shadows".
"When FHM hits the newsstands in March, it will have a different cover. We deem this to be the most prudent move in the light of the confusion over the previous cover execution. We apologise and thank those who have raised their points [about racism]," FHM Philippines said.
"Bela Padilla [the model] stepping out of the shadows" will surely not the one we will be seeing on the actual FHM March 2012 issue," said FHM, adding, "In our pursuit to come up with edgier covers, we will strive to be more sensitive next time." The magazine also apologised to the model "for any distress this may have caused her".
