(The Root) — Twitter is aggressively calling on Jay Z to dissolve his business ties with Barneys after news broke earlier this week that two black shoppers said they were profiled and wrongly accused of theft. The mogul has a clothing line with the store due to make its debut next month.
More than 3,000 people have signed a petition calling for him to end the deal, but Jay Z has failed to respond to requests for a comment. According to the Daily News, the rapping mogul, who is in Sweden for his Magna Carta tour, appeared "tongue-tied" when paparazzi in Stockholm asked him to comment on the petition.
"Jay Z is not allowed to speak on this matter,” said one of his companions. “Jay Z maybe will give an answer when the collection is launched at Barneys." It's not an official response, but "when the collection is launched at Barneys" might be all we need to know.
Barneys has since issued an apology and stated that it will work with a civil rights expert to address the matter. But will Jay Z follow suit?
This is not to say that online petitions and pressure from the Twittersphere don't yield results. (We know black Twitter makes stuff happen.) But Jay Z is the same dude who said "my presence is charity," so let's not hold our breath.
If you want to see what's hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.