Jay Z had only just announced his holiday line with upscale retail giant Barney’s this past fall, when the company was embroiled in a huge racial-profiling controversy. After a couple weeks of radio silence, Hov finally addressed the situation, as many were urging him to back out of the deal. In a statement, the hip-hop mogul said he wouldn’t “prematurely pull out” of the collab until he knew all of the facts, adding, “I am against discrimination of any kind, but if I make snap judgements, no matter who it’s towards, aren’t I committing the same sin as someone who profiles?”
In the end, Hov stuck with Barney’s, and reconfigured the deal so that 100% of the profits would go to his charity, The Shawn Carter Foundation, rather than the initial 25% originally agreed upon. He also helped created a council at Barney’s “specifically convened to deal with the issue of racial profiling.” Though reports of holiday sales are still being tallied, sales for the line’s six-week run have surpassed the $1 million mark as of Friday.
All profits from the sale of the goods went to the foundation, and Barneys also pledged 10% of its entire store’s profits from the first day the items went on sale. Awesome!
Source: DM
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