Looks like all that heat Jay Z's been taking for his collaboration with Barneys New York is finally making a dent. Though the rapper said he'd continue to stand by the retailer despite all those racial profiling allegations it's been fielding recently, it appears he'll be launching his new line with little fanfare; Barneys canceled a planned party on Wednesday to celebrate his new holiday line. Or maybe he and Bey just have something better to do this week, whatever. It's hard to be the king.
On Friday, Jay Z maintained he would not be severing ties with Barneys, even though two minority customers are suing the retailer for wrongly accusing them of thievery, and petitions have been circulating asking the rapper to ditch his $$$ deal with them. He did say, though, that 100 percent of the proceeds from his new holiday line would benefit his Shawn Carter Foundation, instead of the 25 percent that had originally been planned. And now, Barneys has announced they were canceling a party they were sponsoring on Wednesday to debut the line, claiming in a statement that "unforeseen circumstances" killed the launch.
Then again, the off-site launch party was supposed to be a fundraiser for the Shawn Carter Foundation, which is a bummer for the scholarship-driven organization. And at this point, Jay Z's attempt to save face might be too little, too late. But don't "demonize" him, folks—the world needs $80 "Gold" cologne now more than ever.
