Did people really think Jay Z was going to blow off what could be a lucrative business arrangement with mega department store Barneys over its alleged profiling of minority shoppers? After news broke that Barneys was profiling minority shoppers, pressure mounted on the rapper/entrepreneur to kill the deal that will see Barneys selling limited edition items from $70 t-shirts to $33k watches. On Friday Jay Z confirmed that the deal will still go on, however their will be some conditions added to the arrangement. In a message posted to his Life and Times website, he stated the following:
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. I will take this into my own hands with full power to recommend, review and revise policies and guidelines moving forward. I am choosing to take this head on.
One of the conditions added to the deal is that Jay Z will have a leadership role and seat on a council specifically convened to deal with the issue of racial profiling. Jay also said instead of the original 25% of sales going to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, 100% of sales from the seal will be donated instead.
