S. Samuel
Rap mogul Jay Z appears confident in sticking to his partnership with Barneys New York despite multiple racial profiling accusations coming to light and will release his first-ever men's fragrance later this month.
Slated for a Black Friday release, Jay will aim to conquer the fragrance game with his new Gold Jay Z bottle.
Jay Z is launching his first men’s fragrance just in time for the holidays. The fragrance “GOLD JAY Z” will debut at Barney’s New York on November 20th as part of his collaboration with the store, featuring three different sized bottles ranging from $39 to $70. The cologne will hit additional shelves at 2,000 department stores on Black Friday, November 29th. According to reports, the rapper and entrepreneur reportedly rejected 3,200 names before settling on one that was just right. He picked up one of the bottles saying, “this is the sh*t; it’s gold.” (Huffington Post)
Jay’s business partner for the cologne has also spoken out on the pending release.
Hov partnered with Firmenich perfumer Ilias Ermenidis to create the fragrance. “I was impressed with JAY Z’s style and confidence and was drawn to the ease with which he carries himself and all of his success,” says Ilias Ermenidis in a press release announcing the launch. “He has a natural cool that people want a piece of. In developing GOLD JAY Z, I wanted to capture both the vibrant ambitious part of JAY Z’s charismatic persona and his effortless style that he naturally embodies through a fusion of notes chosen by JAY Z.” (Huffington Post)
After an in-person discussion with civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, Barneys CEO Mark Lee addressed the racial profiling situation.
“No one, and I mean no individual, should go through the unacceptable experiences described by Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips,” Lee said Tuesday after an hour-long sitdown with the Rev. Al Sharpton at the Harlem headquarters of his National Action Network. “We offer our deepest sympathies to both of them.” Sharpton and his National Action Network demanded a face-to-face with Barneys brass- and threatened to put shopping at the high-end retailer “on hold” — after Christian and Phillips accused Barneys of sending cops to question and detain them after they made big-ticket buys at the Manhattan flagship. (New York Post)
The Barneys head also offered up some words for new business partner Jay Z.
Barneys’ Lee also apologized to music mogul Jay-Z, who is slated to launch a clothing line with the retailer in November, and has charity dealings with the store. “We deeply regret that these recent events have distracted from the great work of the Sean Carter Foundation, and we offer our sincere apologies to Mister Carter.” Lee said. “Our collaboration together is based on the shared mission of helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships.” (New York Post)
Jigga released a statement last weekend and questioned being targeted over the situation.
“I move and speak based on facts and not emotion,” the statement said. “I haven’t made any comments because I am waiting on facts and the outcome of a meeting between community leaders and Barneys. Why am I being demonized, denounced and thrown on the cover of a newspaper for not speaking immediately?” he said, referring to local newspaper headlines. Jay-Z said in this case, he’s still trying to find out what happened –which is why he was silent. “The negligent, erroneous reports and attacks on my character, intentions and the spirit of this collaboration have forced me into a statement I didn’t want to make without the full facts,” he added. (Boston Herald)
Hovi also denied making big bucks off his Barneys partnership and explained why he would not end the relationship prematurely.
“This money is going to help individuals facing socio-economic hardships to help further their education at institutions of higher learning,” he said. “My idea was born out of creativity and charity… not profit.” Jay-Z said he understood what it felt like to be racially profiled — but also didn’t want to jump to unfair conclusions. “I am against discrimination of any kind but if I make snap judgments, no matter who it’s towards, aren’t I committing the same sin as someone who profiles?” he asked. “I am no stranger to being profiled and I truly empathize with anyone that has been put in that position. Hopefully this brings forth a dialogue to effect real change.” (Boston Herald)
A new petition requests Young Hov to immediately put an end to his relationship with the high-end retailer.
As the accusations of racism against Barneys New York continues to pick up steam following the reveal of a second discrimination lawsuit, the call for action against the company is growing louder. A petition has surfaced on Change.org asking “Shawn Carter a.k.a. Jay-Z” to end all partnerships with Barneys New York. The petition’s creator, Derick Bowers, writes, “We can no longer tolerate blatant prejudice and discrimination. It is clear that the minority buying power is devalued by some. We must withdraw support to those who will not support us.” (Huffington Post)
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