A lot of people are asking the same question at the moment, namely, is that Luigi Mangione modeling a SHEIN top?
While it’s most certainly not Mangione, who was last year charged in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the model seen in the image making the rounds unquestionably looks very much like the 27-year-old despite him currently remaining behind bars in New York. As others have noted, it wasn’t immediately clear what sort of presumed trickery was utilized in the image, though many have suspected some degree of A.I. was involved.
The image, seen below, features a model, or at least, a depiction of a model, wearing a patterned button-up shirt. Amid the A.I. speculation and related chatter, the product page for the shirt appears to have been taken down. As of this writing, the link to the product leads to the display of a message stating, “There is something wrong with our server. We are trying to fix it. Please try again later.”
When reached for comment by Complex on Wednesday, a SHEIN spokesperson confirmed the image had been “removed immediately upon discovery,” attributing its existence to an unspecified third-party vendor.
“The image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery,” a SHEIN spokesperson told Complex. “We have stringent standards for all listings on our platform. We are conducting a thorough investigation, strengthening our monitoring processes, and will take appropriate action against the vendor in line with our policies.”
Complex has also reached out to reps for Mangione's legal team. This story may be updated.
Mangione is currently facing charges at the state and federal level. Amid the ongoing attention from both the media and the general public, his legal team has cautioned that there is not currently a method “to verify the authenticity” of letters and related communications attributed to their client, despite the widespread sharing of such alleged materials.
In a statement shared in April, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, an attorney representing Mangione in New York, criticized what she called “a corrupt web of government dysfunction and one-upmanship” in the state and federal cases.
“We are prepared to fight these federal charges, brought by a lawless Justice Department, as well as the New York State charges, and the Pennsylvania charges, and anything else they want to pile on Luigi,” Agnifilo said at the time.