If you needed just one more reason to love Beyonce, I got you! It was major news the other day when she announced a new partnership with Adidas to develop new signature footwear and apparel.
But what y’all may not know is Beyonce shopped her project around to a few shoe companies, including #Reebok.
Writer Nick De Paula said on ESPN’s show, “The Jump”, that Queen Bey had a meeting with Reebok but declined to work with them because no one in the room looked like her or reflected her background.
“For her, it really goes beyond that. It’s more than putting her name on the shoe. It’s about having an imprint on the company, impact in terms of diversity. I had heard a great story about how, throughout this process, in the last year or two, she had discussed with Under Armour, Reebok as well. Jordan, 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 took a step back and said, ‘Is this the team that will be working on my product?” De Paula said.
Somebody on Reebok’s team reportedly said ‘yes,’ to which Beyonce reportedly replied, “Nobody in this room, reflects my background, my skin color and where I’m from and what I want to do.’ So she kind of took a step back and left. And then it did not come to terms.”
Another panelist on the show highlighted how Beyonce is about what she says in regard to representation.
“That’s an amazing story. Because it’s one thing to talk about ‘Oh, I want diversity. I want representation.’ But for a company not to realize, with Beyoncé’s track record, we better put people in the room, we better be able to elevate people who can do the job and to be able to do the job, you have to come from where she’s coming from,” said Rachel Nichols.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this one? Let us know!
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
