Barneys Madison Ave store. A young black student who was arrested after buying a $300 Ferragano belt at Barney's is suing the store and the police department in a civil rights case.
He’s got 99 problems and Barneys is a big one.
Jay Z is getting slammed online for his association with the high-end department store rocked this week by two separate instances in which black shoppers say they were profiled and mistakenly accused of theft.
The department store isn’t faring any better, with at least one online petition calling for a boycott.
The enterprising user behind the change.org petition is also selling “Barneys New Slaves” T-shirts with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Even big names like Questlove, the drummer for The Roots, and Power 105 DJ Angela Yee are getting in on the criticism.
"guess where i won't be christmas shopping for mom this year," Questlove wrote in a now-deleted tweet.
Yee wrote:
The firestorm of controversy began Tuesday when Trayon Christian, 19, told the Daily News he had sued the city after two undercover NYPD detectives allegedly detained him after he purchased a pricey Ferragamo belt from the Barneys flagship store on Madison Ave.
Christian said he decided to buy the Ferragmo accessory because one of his favorite rappers, Juelz Santana, had sported the belt.
Then on Wednesday Kayla Phillips, 21, told a similar humiliating ordeal.
She said she bought a $2,500 designer bag from the store in February — but only made it a few blocks before four cops allegedly hassled her and demanded to see ID. She has filed a $5 million notice of claim with the city notifying them of her intention to sue.
So far, Jay Z has not commented on the controversy. The hip-hop mogul has lent his name to a limited-edition line of clothes and jewelry that will go on sale in the store Nov. 20.
Barneys has said in a statement no employee “was involved in the pursuit of any action with the individual other than the sale.”
Here’s a roundup of more tweets taking both Jay Z and the store to task.
UPDATED: Barneys CEO releases statement
Barneys New York believes that no customer should have the unacceptable experience described in recent media reports, and we offer our sincere regret and deepest apologies.
Further to our statement of yesterday, we want to reinforce that Barneys New York has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination. We are a strong proponent of equal rights and equal treatment for all human beings. Our mission is to ensure that all customers receive the highest-quality service—without exception.
To this end, we are conducting a thorough review of our practices and procedures as they relate to these matters to ensure that they reflect our continued commitment to fairness and equality. To lead this review, we have retained a civil rights expert, Michael Yaki, who also serves on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The Commission has been the nation’s watchdog for civil rights for more than 50 years. Mr. Yaki will be provided with unrestricted access to all aspects of our store operations.
In addition, Barneys New York has reached out to community leaders to begin a dialogue on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Mark Lee
CEO of Barneys New York
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