Jay-Z released a statement Saturday in response to public outcry over his partnership with luxury department store Barneys, which has been accused racial profiling.
“Making a decision prematurely to pull out of this project wouldn’t hurt Barneys or Shawn Carter, but all the people that stand a chance at higher education,” he said in his statement. Jay-Z’s holiday collaboration benefits his Shawn Carter Foundation, which provides scholarships to minority students.
The Brooklyn-born music mogul was silent following the first report of racial profiling Wednesday, which prompted angry fans to take to Twitter and more than 14,000 signatures on a Change.org petition calling on Jay-Z to pull his partnership.
“I move and speak based on facts and not emotion,” Jay-Z said in the statement.