People are pretty frustrated that Jay Z hasn’t yet ended his clothing deal with Barneys New York in the wake of allegations that the retailer harassed and detained two shoppers simply for being black and buying expensive things. Jay Z, however, is so far unmoved by the mounting fury of the New York media, insisting that he’d rather take a wait-and-see approach to the Barneys racial profiling fiasco before he ends his collaboration with the store.
Writing on his website Saturday, Jay Z tried his best to calmly explain his reasons for not rushing to condemn Barneys. If he ends his deal with the store, scholarship money for the Shawn Carter Foundation will vanish, all for what may be just a fleeting moment of righteous indignation:
I move and speak based on facts and not emotion. 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? 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. Making a decision prematurely to pull out of this project, wouldn’t hurt Barneys or Shawn Carter, but all the people that stand a chance at higher education…
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?
All of that has the sensible tone of a competent public relations strategy, but some of Jay Z’s critics have noted that the mogul has been quick to identify and criticize other high-profile instances of racism. The only apparent difference in this situation is that Jay Z has a complicating business relationship with Barneys. [E!] [CBS] [Life + Times]
- Is there any universe in which Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz and Milla Jovovich would all sign on for a lady version of The Expendables called The ExpendaBelles? Because if there is such a universe, science needs to quarantine it ASAP so nobody accidentally ventures there. [Deadline]
- Christina Ricci and her longtime-boyfriend Casper (a friendly ghost) have finally gotten married. Here’s hoping they really love each other and aren’t just capitalizing on some easy Halloween publicity. [People]
- Naomi Campbell talks about anger and emotions: “Anger is an emotion. There were things I had to deal with. You have to deal with it.” [People]
- This is Rihanna wearing a Medusa headpiece, a shell-kini bottom, and a big snake around her chest for GQ. [Buzzfeed]
- Chris Brown was arrested in our nation’s capital for allegedly assaulting a man outside the W Hotel. Since Brown is still on probation for beating Rihanna, he could face a worst-case scenario of four years in prison. [TMZ]
- In which Joss Whedon insisted (let’s assume while lasciviously rubbing his hands together) that Chris Hemsworth take his shirt of for no apparent reason in Thor: The Dark World: “That [scene] kind of came from Joss actually. He just said that there needed to be something romantic in there. Then he said, ‘Chris, get your shirt off.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know. What’s the why? What are we doing?’ The justification was that it was him coming home from battle, washing blood off his hands. It is what it is. How to weigh into that without sounding like an idiot?” Joss Whedon knows what the people want. [MTV]
- Shaq, a native of the sleepy hamlet of Newark, is endorsing Chris Christie in the New Jersey governor’s bid for reelection. [Daily Beast]
- Ke$ha insists she didn’t cancel her concert in Malaysia — government authorities made it clear that she’d be arrested if she tried to perform. [CNN]
- In news of topical and relatively inoffensive Halloween costumes, Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris dressed as Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus, but really, Hefner just looks like an old referee. [E!]
- Eva Longoria and Eduardo Cruz pressed their primary face holes together, presumably to trade flavors from the lunch they enjoyed earlier that day. [E!]
- So apparently Miley Cyrus will be making $500,000 per night on her upcoming tour, which may seem like a lot of money until you consider that greedy workers in America want the minimum wage to be a wage that they can actually live on. UGH, SO ENTITLED. [Page Six]
- Besides, it isn’t as if Miley doesn’t have it just as hard (if not 1,000 times harder) than your average fast food worker. Her ex-fiancé, Liam Hemsworth, has a new girlfriend who paused in front of a storefront to mock a mannequin wearing Miley’s MTV latex bikini. [NYDN]
- Is Sean Hayes a delusional television star with an overestimated view of how popular he is? This interview makes it seem so. [The TV Page]
- Madonna teaches a fitness class for people with too much money, time. [Madonnarama]
Image via AP, Gary He