Jay-Z, under pressure to drop a partnership with luxury US store Barneys New York after it was accused of racially profiling two black customers, has said he is being "demonised" for waiting to hear all of the facts.The rap mogul made his first statement about the controversy in a posting on his website.
He has been criticised for remaining silent after two young blacks said they were profiled by Barneys after they bought expensive items from its Manhattan store.
An online petition and Twitter messages from fans have been circulating, calling on the star to leave his upcoming partnership with Barneys for the festive season, which will have the store selling items by top designers, inspired by Jay-Z, with some proceeds going to his charity.
He also dismissed reports that he would profit from the collaboration with Barneys. He says his Shawn Carter Foundation, which provides college scholarships to poorer students, will get 25% of all sales from the collaboration.He said he understood what it felt like to be racially profiled, but did not want to jump to unfair conclusions.
"I am against discrimination of any kind but if I make snap judgments, no matter who it's towards, aren't I committing the same sin as someone who profiles?" he said.
The two Barneys customers, Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips, said they were detained by police after making expensive purchases.Mr Christian sued Barneys, saying he was accused of fraud after using his debit card to buy a 349-dollar (£217) Ferragamo belt in April. Ms Philips filed a notice of claim saying she would sue after she was stopped by detectives outside the store when she bought a 2,500-dollar (£1,550) Celine handbag in February.
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