Jay Z may have touted his new role with Barneys New York following the highly publicized racial profiling controversy, however it appears executives at the luxury retail store are finally feeling the pressure from the negative press.
Barneys was set to sponsor a kickoff event on Wednesday evening to promote its “A New York Holiday” collaboration with the 43-year old rapper turned successful entrepreneur.
Amid heavy criticism to drop his affiliation with the retail store after two young Black shoppers were racially profiled, Jay Z stated in a well-crafted statement that he will wait for an investigation to make a decision.
Weeks later, and some wheeling and dealing behind closed doors, Jay Z announced he had maneuvered himself into a position with Barneys to “deal with the issue of racial profiling.”
“I am in a unique position to use my voice to affect change to this disturbing issue,” he said in a statement released on Friday. “The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policy making to others hoping that someone addresses the problem.”
The announcement didn’t do much to help the rapper’s now-tainted reputation among his Black fans.
According to WWD, Barneys issued the following statement on Tuesday: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the event has been canceled.”
The Barneys New York-Shawn Corey Carter Collection is still expected to launch on Wednesday with 100 percent of all sales going to the Shawn Carter Foundation, in addition to 10 percent of all of Wednesday’s retail sales at its flagships in New York, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, as well as on barneys.com, going to the foundation, with a guarantee of raising at least $1 million.
Jay Z is undoubtedly in a tough situation, but as Vogue magazine’s former editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley puts it, “For the simplicity of making a broad statement, I would pull out.”
