Source: Kevin Winter/PW18 / Getty
Queen Bey don’t play, period.
This is a lesson that Reebok apparently had to learn when the iconic Grammy-winning singer walked out of a meeting with the sports apparel company for not having any diversity in the room.
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During a recent episode of ESPN’s “The Jump,” writer Nick DePaula revealed that
Beyoncé wasn’t here for the all white faces, essentially looking like a Trump rally.
“Throughout this process over the last year or two,” DePaula told the hosts that Bey had been courted by numerous companies, including Reebok and Under Armour to name a few.
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“She had discussed with Under Armour, with Reebok as well, Jordan [at Nike] at one point was interested in maybe partnering with her. She had a meeting at Reebok and they had a whole presentation of everything, potential products, how this could all look, and she kind of took a step back and said, ‘Is this the team that will be working on my product?’”
DePaula continued: “Somebody said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Nobody in this room reflects by background, my skin color and where I’m from and what I want to do.’ So she took a step back and left and then it did not come to terms.”
“For her, it really goes beyond that. It’s not just about putting her name on a shoe and here’s the new Adidas Beyonce 1, or whatever they end up calling it. It’s about having an imprint on the company and an impact in terms of diversity,” he concluded.
Looks like Reebok’s lose was Adidas’ gain, ’cause earlier this week they announced they signed the “Lemonade” singer to
a “multi-layered” endorsement deal, which includes relaunching her
Ivy Park line.
Well,
Black Twitter had some thoughts on Reebok playing themselves when it came to downplaying how important race and representation means to the Queen:
