Jay Z was in the crosshairs of a media fire storm over his business dealings with high-end department store Barney’s in October as claims of racial profiling rained down on the New York clothier after several African American shoppers accused them of teaming with undercover NYPD to harass and detain shoppers based solely on race.
The situation became even more heated as HOV refused to immediately speak out on the circumstance. What a difference three months makes. His Shawn Carter Foundation recently announced the partnership had raised over $1 Million in scholarship money for underprivileged children, which involves selling high-priced clothing designed by celebrities to raise funds.
25 percent of the proceeds from the partnership were slated to go to charity initially, but Jay convinced Barney’s to donate all of the proceeds after claims of racism began to rise.
He also convinced Barney’s to donate 10 percent of the store’s entire sales total from the day the clothing line premiered in November. The collection dubbed, “A New York Holiday”, included items such as a $70 t-shirt and a watch worth $33,900.
