The
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show had its lowest ratings ever on Sunday, according to a new report.
The show, which debuted on ABC for the first time after years of airing on CBS, averaged 3.3 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The ratings come after another previous all-time low, according to Entertainment Weekly, which reports the lingerie brand had roughly 5 million viewers and a 1.5 rating in 2017.
Along with the brand's low ratings, just last month, Ed Razek — the chief marketing officer of Victoria’s Secret parent company — came under fire after he made controversial comments in an interview with Vogue.
In an article published on November 8th, Razek told the magazine that the show wouldn’t include transgender models because it’s supposed to be a “fantasy.”
“It’s like, why doesn’t your show do this? Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should,” he told Vogue. “Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment special. That’s what it is.
“It is the only one of its kind in the world, and any other fashion brand in the world would take it in a minute, including the competitors that are carping at us. And they carp at us because we’re the leader. They don’t talk about each other. I accept that. I actually respect it…” Razek continued.
The comments were criticized by models including Australian model Andreja Pejic, as well as social media users, W Magazine reported at the time.
“It’s really sad when you see powerful people in our industry holding such backward views and being so comfortable in expressing them on a public platform,” Pejic wrote on Instagram.
Victoria’s Secret posted an apology from Razek two days later.
“My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize,” the statement read.
“To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it… But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”