Jay Z Reveals Why He Will Continue to Work With Barneys
Shawn "Jay Z" Carter is explaining his decision to officially move forward with his business deal with the Barney's department store after the deal recently came under scrutiny.
The 43-year-old rap mogul is premiering his fragrance Gold at the department store for the holiday season but petitions called for him not to do so because of allegations that Barneys racially profiled some customers. However, Jay Z recently took to his Life and Times website to explain why he decided to move forward with fragrance sold at Barneys.
"In the past several weeks two separate investigations were launched as a result of the wrongful detention of Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips. My team has been privy to the status of the Barneys third party consultant investigation," the rap mogul wrote on his website. "In continuing our research, we also contacted the New York State Attorney General's office for the status of their investigation into both Barneys and Macy's. Those findings are not yet available."
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Jay Z said that he plans to oversee racial profiling issues within the company himself.
"While I await the findings of the Attorney General's Office, I have agreed to move forward with the launch of BNY SCC collection under the condition that I have a leadership role and seat on a council specifically convened to deal with the issue of racial profiling," he wrote on his website. "I am in a unique position to use my voice to affect change to this disturbing issue. The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policy making to others hoping that someone addresses the problem. I will not leave the outcome to others."
He elaborated further about his commitment to ensuring that the company would not tolerate racial profiling.
"I will take this into my own hands with full power to recommend, review and revise policies and guidelines moving forward," Jay Z wrote. "I am choosing to take this head on."
Mark Lee, the CEO of Barneys, apologized to two black shoppers, Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips, who accused the store of accusing them of fraud because they are black.
"No one, and I mean no individual, should go through the unacceptable experiences described by Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips," Lee told reporters after a lengthy meeting with Reverend Al Sharpton. "We offer our deepest sympathies to both of them."
