Beyoncé just scored a major deal with Adidas, but before that other sneaker companies tried hard to partner with her.
The “Irreplaceable” singer recently relaunched her Ivy Park athleisure brand under the Adidas umbrella, and the company will also be releasing her signature sneaker as well as apparel.
Beyoncé reportedly walked out of a Reebok meeting due to lack of diversity. (Photo: Getty Images, Nicholas Hunt )
But according to ESPN writer Nick DePaula, Beyoncé also met with Under Armour, the Air Jordan people at Nike, and Reebok, but she didn’t like Reebok’s lack of diversity so she left the meeting.
“She had a meeting at Reebok and they had a whole presentation of everything, potential products, how this could all look, and she kind of took a step back and said ‘Is this the team that will be working on my product?’” DePaula told the hosts of ESPN’s “The Jump.”
“Somebody said, ‘Yes,’ and she said ‘Nobody in this room reflects by background, my skin color, and where I’m from and what I want to do,'” he added. “So she took a step back and left, and then it did not come to terms.”
Some may not be surprised that diversity is a big issue for the superstar singer, since she’s been known to tackle social justice issues head-on. Like in 2016 when she brought the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant and Mike Brown on the red carpet of the MTV Awards.
Or when she rallied black folks with the “Formation” video where a youngster stands in front of police officers with with the words “Stop Shooting Us” spray painted on a wall. Beyoncé also made a big statement at the 2016 Super Bowl when she brought out dancers with outfits inspired by the Black Panthers.
On top of that, she’s supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and in 2017 presented Colin Kaepernick with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for protesting social injustice.
“It’s not just about putting her name on a shoe and here’s the new Adidas Beyonce 1, or whatever they end up calling it,” said DePaula about the singer’s sneaker deal. “It’s about having an imprint on the company and an impact in terms of diversity.”
