[2] A December 2023 report funded by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats found Bestseller's China-based supplier had connections to forced Uyghur labor.

Bestseller, via its parent holding company Heartland, is the largest shareholder at 29.5% of British e-commerce firm ASOS.com, and owns 10% of German retailer Zalando.

[16] In June 2017, the Danish independent media and research center DanWatch documented in collaboration with The Guardian, what have been called "slave-like conditions" at Cambodian garment factories supplying Bestseller.

[17] Lack of breaks, temperatures of up to 37 degrees in the work halls, insufficient ventilation systems, and strict rules regarding water and food intake led to workers fainting from exhaustion.

Doctors, labor experts, NGOs, unions, and the women themselves attributed the ensuing mass fainting to heat, overwork, hunger, thirst, sheer exhaustion, and panic.

[21] In 2024, Anders Holch Povlsen, CEO of Bestseller, was scrutinized by Danish news broadcaster DR for the environmental impact of his private jet usage.

Povlsen owns the company Blackbird Air, which operates two private jets used for both business and personal travel, with over 1,100 flights recorded between 2020 and 2023.

[22] Scottish media also reported on the private jet usage, pointing out the contrast with Povlsen's environmental donations and rewilding projects in Scotland.