Today Barneys CEO Mark Lee met with Al Sharpton and other civil rights activists and community leaders and publicly apologized to the African-American shoppers that filed lawsuits against them last week. However, he insisted that “no one” at the luxe retailer racially profiled the pair.
“No one, and I mean no individual, should go through the unacceptable experiences described by Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips,” Lee said after an hour-long sitdown with the Rev. Al Sharpton at the Harlem headquarters of his National Action Network. “We offer our deepest sympathies to both of them.”
Lee went on to say that Barneys has a “zero tolerance” discrimination policy and didn’t single out Phillips or Christian.
“Our preliminary investigation has concluded that, in both of these instances, no one from Barneys New York raised any issue with these purchases.”
“No one from Barneys brought them to the attention of our internal security, and no one from Barneys reached out to external authorities,” he said.
Mark Lee also apologized to Jay-Z, who is slated to launch a clothing line with the retailer in November.
“We deeply regret that these recent events have distracted from the great work of the Sean Carter Foundation, and we offer our sincere apologies to Mister Carter.” Lee said.
“Our collaboration together is based on the shared mission of helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships.”
Jay Z on Saturday released a statement saying he “isn’t making a dime” off his Barneys partnership.”
“I’m prepared to stand with the Rev. Sharpton and the leaders to effect real change and bring other retailers into the fold,” Lee continued.
“Moving forward there is a broader issue that needs to be addressed and Barneys New York is committed to be part of the solution.”
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