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High-end retailer Barneys New York has been in hot water lately over allegations of racially profiling black customers.

The retail store has been in crisis mode since the allegations made headline news, and they enlisted the help of Reverend Al Sharpton for damage control.

Late last week, Change.org petitions became popping up asking Jay Z to end his Christmas collaboration with the company. Jay Z subsequently released a statement that he wasn’t going to rush to judgment, and instead wait until the facts come out in the case.

Now, Barneys CEO Mark Lee issued an apology to the hip-hop mogul expressing remorse about the “distraction” these allegations have caused.

In a statement, Barneys CEO Mark Lee wrote:

“We deeply regret that these recent events have distracted from the great work of the Shawn Carter Foundation, and we offer our sincere apologies to Mr. Carter. Our collaboration together is based on the shared mission of helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships.”

After apologizing to Jay Z for taking away from the great work of his foundation, Mr. Lee went on to apologize to the two profiling victims who spoke out against the high-end retailer.

“No one, and I mean no individual, should go through the unacceptable experiences described by Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips. “We offer our deepest sympathies to both of them.”

According to Mr. Lee’s internal investigation, preliminary results have found that no one from the Barneys staff ever mentioned concern about either of these shoppers.

“No one from Barneys brought them to the attention of our internal security, and no one from Barneys reached out to external authorities. I can only speak to what we know from the preliminary investigation.”

There’s still no word on whether Jay Z will continue his collaboration with the retailer, but whatever Mr. Carter decides, we respect.

SOURCE: NYP

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