Dolce & Gabbana’s fashion show in Shanghai has been cancelled by the city’s Cultural Affairs Bureau after a handful of scandalous screenshots were unearthed online.

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has been receiving much flak over its latest campaign #DGLovesChina, after a series of clips were posted on their social media accounts featuring an Asian model using chopsticks to eat Italian dishes – pizza, spaghetti and traditional Sicilian cannolo.

But those promo videos, labelled “racist” by many social media users, were just the tip of the iceberg.

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Ahead of the brand’s fashion show in Shanghai, which was scheduled for 21 November, Diet Prada’s Instagram account published screengrabs of a conversation between Stefano Gabbana and Instagram user @michaelatranova in the platform’s Direct Message service.

The Italian designer appeared to go as far as to call China “the country of sh*t,” brand it “Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” and claim that Chinese people eat dogs.

Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana had his Instagram DM's about his views on China leaked just HOURS before the viewing of the "D&G Loves China" Runway show in Shanghai…🤦🏼‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/GcyLnxVdeK — Outlander (@StreetFashion01) 21 November 2018

Once the screenshots emerged online, netizens rushed to express their indignation and frustration with the designer and the entire fashion house, saying that “racist” Stefano Gabbana was officially “cancelled.”

Stefano Gabbana’s racist comments on China caused the cancellation of their event. Artists, celebrities & models dropping the show. Thank you for spilling the tea @diet_prada! pic.twitter.com/Q8cLHlaSqE — 陳飛李寧 (@ihateposh) 21 November 2018

Stefano Gabbana has been over since he body-shamed Selena, so sad what people do trying to be relevant.

You can leave your ass in Europe, no one needs you in China. #shame — #MYTMILAN (@AlmostCalledYou) 21 November 2018

Cannot believe such a global top tier luxury brand @dolcegabbana has this shitty founder stefano gabbana who is discriminating China and acting like a drug addicts with his narrowest shitty mind. I can promise one thing is that your market share will be eliminated from China. 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/d6QryttGHx — lmaoxDxD (@DxLmaox) 21 November 2018

the Italian luxury brand Dolce&Gabbana founder Stefano Gabbana said shame words to China on social network. pic.twitter.com/J6Db4Zzz9a — kd4us (@kd4us) 21 November 2018

Stefano Gabbana goes on racist rant on Instagram after being confronted about the racist ad D&G made. He is DISGUSTING and D&G is CANCELLED pic.twitter.com/jsxNMMclFu — PRADANGEL (@angeIictears) 21 November 2018

But an apology wasn’t coming: the fashion house posted a statement on its Instagram account, claiming that both the designer’s and the D&G accounts had been hacked, and their legal offices were investigating the matter.

Gabbana published one of the screenshots, having written “Not Me” in bold all over the pic, with a caption, echoing the brand’s statement: “My Instagram account has been hacked. My legal office is working on this. I love China and the Chinese Culture. I’m so sorry for what happened.”

The D&G show in Shanghai was subsequently cancelled by the city’s Cultural Affairs Bureau…

…with models, who were supposed to take to the catwalk, launching a “Not Me” movement on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, in a sarcastic nod to his Instagram post:

Chinese models who were scheduled to walk for @dolcegabbana’s ‘The Great Show' in Shanghai today mock Stefano Gabbana’s claim of being hacked by using the same “Not Me” text to announce their refusal to participate in the show pic.twitter.com/ttMuSWqmdn — c-drama tweets (@dramapotatoe) 21 November 2018

It’s been revealed that the Chinese models at the @dolcegabbana ‘The Great Show’ were the first to boycott, as they collectively walked out of the show’s venue. Cnetz praise them for their courage, as they were putting their careers on the line (before things escalated). pic.twitter.com/JP9onT5Vpb — c-drama tweets (@dramapotatoe) 21 November 2018

During the past several months, Stefano Gabbana has been embroiled in much controversy – from calling pop singer Selena Gomez “really ugly” on Instagram to branding the Kardashian-Jenner clan “the cheapest people in the world.”