Jay Z To Sell "Occupy All Street" T-Shirts, But Will Not Give Proceeds To Occupiers

Looking for some Occupy Wall Street swag? Jay-Z has you covered. The millionaire rapper and entrepreneur is launching a line of Occupy Wall Street-themed t-shirts featuring the phrase "Occupy All Streets," that go on sale on Jay-Z's Rocawear website on Friday, according to Business Insider.

But the genius behind "99 Problems" isn't sharing the profits with the 99 percent. A spokesperson from Rocawear told Business Insider in a statement that the company has not "made an official commitment" to support the movement financially.

But Jay-Z isn't the first to try and use the Occupy movement to make some money. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has received a rash of applications from merchants, lawyers and others to trademark phrases like "Occupy" and "We Are The 99 Percent."

In an ad on Craigslist, MTV said it was hunting for a cast member for its flagship reality show The Real World among the Occupy crowd, according to the Los Angeles Times. The network also aired True Life: I’m Occupying Wall Street earlier this month, which documented a few days in the park for some of the twenty-somethings taking part in the movement, CBS News reports.

Some activists not directly associated with the movement even produced a commercial last month that aims to direct people to Occupy Together, one of the many websites promoting the Occupy Wall Street cause, according to the New York Observer. The OWS PR team decided against using the video on OccupyWallStreet.org because they were concerned that viewers would find it "too commercial."

Though Jay-Z may be trying to make a buck off of the protests, he's supportive of their goals. In the statement to Business Insider, Rocawear said the company encourages "all forms of constructive expression." In a clip of an upcoming appearance on The Secret Millionaire's Club -- an animated series created by Warren Buffett that aims to teach kids financial literacy -- a cartoon version of Jay-Z explains to the kids that becoming successful in business has allowed him to help others.

Jay-Z isn't the first member of the hip-hop community to take up the Occupy banner. Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons has visited Zuccotti several times, even offering to pay for a clean up of the park last month when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the park would need to be temporarily closed for cleaning. Other artists, including Kanye West and Talib Kweli, have also stopped by the protests.

 

Comments

[Saraha Jevo]

01:59 PM on 11/17/2011

should jz given his profits for his own words to cause. MMMMMM> maybe small donation. maybe not at all. since i have seen the acts of selfishness in a person who has committed to like occupy and a total act of selfishness nothing to do with rights of others but her own personal financial interest maybe over life. show me a trull right and conscious person , and i will occupy all streets. U go girl JZ. rich get richer if they are cold to..what come around goes around. so u go girl.

[HelloFunnyWorld]

12:22 PM on 11/16/2011

Both Jay-Z and his wife are savvy enough to know that, if they the make and sell such Tees without donating a fair share to the OWS, they stand to lose much more than the money they'll gain.

Assuming of course that this story is True.....

[chuck nathaniel]

11:37 PM on 11/14/2011

The HuffPo makes quite a bit of money reporting on the 'occupy' movement.

How much of their proceeds are being donated to 'the movement'?

[Occupy Everywhere]

10:09 PM on 11/14/2011

These guys donate. www.Occupy-All-Streets.com

[Pat Hoops]

05:45 PM on 11/14/2011

there just is no end to the greed in this country! Everyone has their big mouths open as to what other people should do but NO ONE leads by example.

[brokenleoheart]

11:07 AM on 11/14/2011

lets just boycott everything so you can save some money and not go broke in the first place.

[Greg285]

09:02 PM on 11/13/2011

And we should be surprised by him wanting to make a buck bc that's what he all about!!!!!

[riley85]

03:13 PM on 11/13/2011

What was it that Jayz's buddy, Barack Obama, said "At some point you've made enough money".
I guess that only applies to bankers and WallStreet.
If you are one of his rapper/celebrity/sports buddies you can rake in megamillions and even exploit the OWS movement to add to your fortune.
Oh the hypocrisy.

[chuck nathaniel]

11:38 PM on 11/14/2011

The notion that selling a t-shirt with the word 'occupy' in it is 'exploiting' the 'movement' is absurd, baseless, and nonsensical.

Why does the movement need money, anyway?

[Kevin Arthus]

10:49 AM on 11/15/2011

The world is not enough.

[Cindy Callas]

02:08 PM on 11/13/2011

I bet Jay Z will donate the money to charity. Give the guy a chance to speak.

[Kevin Arthus]

10:47 AM on 11/15/2011

"Jay-Z came in for a barrage of criticism late last week when it was reported that revenue from "Occupy All Streets" t-shirts that were being sold on his clothing site, Rocawear.com, were not going to the anti-corporate movement. "

[Cindy Callas]

11:28 AM on 11/15/2011

I am giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. He doesn't need the money and why would he want the bad press. Seems like a stand up individual, but, hey, what do I know?

[karen1p]

01:46 PM on 11/13/2011

BOYCOTT BEYONCE!

[Greg Diop]

08:49 PM on 11/13/2011

I think Im gonna occupy beyonce instead

[jonathanzimmel]

11:02 PM on 11/13/2011

occupy beyonce! haha

[BloodStripe]

01:50 PM on 11/14/2011

Too late greg, bun in the oven... no vacancy...

[karen1p]

01:45 PM on 11/13/2011

BOYCOTT JZ!

[karen1p]

01:44 PM on 11/13/2011

BOYCOTT ROCAWEAR!

[Yam716]

12:10 PM on 11/14/2011

No one wears RW except posers and J anyway so in a sense, it's already boycotted.

[lamarlord7]

01:29 PM on 11/13/2011

Typical! These guys alway are talkin about the streets and the hard life they pulled themselves out of. At least 50% of any t-shirt sold (no doubt they'll be over priced) shold go to OWS. And the other 50% to any not for profit in a needy neighborhood or district! not toward opening another 40-40 club...Jay! The streets are calling!

[jonathanzimmel]

11:03 PM on 11/13/2011

jay is the 1% have you seen his ride and his apartment and his clothes?
have you seen the OWS'ers?

yeah he has very little in common with them

[chuck nathaniel]

11:39 PM on 11/14/2011

Why should they go to OWS? Does OWS own the word occupy? Does OWS even NEED money? Or is this just typical racism?

[Leywood Luckyjack]

12:23 PM on 11/13/2011

I think its conscientious of him to play both ends against the middle. In marketing its known as maximizing your profits and his business advisers will have put this together as another marketing ploy because in our society everything is for sale. Good One eh?

[Yam716]

12:10 PM on 11/14/2011

It's definitely marketing, but he should have known that once it got out, he'd face backlash. He has too much money to worry about making a buck off the protest...it was in poor taste.

[chuck nathaniel]

11:41 PM on 11/14/2011

There is no backlash. The shirts sold out. He's getting free publicity. The people complaining are the people who have never listened to his music, and never will.

[Kevin Arthus]

10:49 AM on 11/15/2011

Jay Z = 1%

[seekthetruthplease]

11:31 AM on 11/13/2011

Ridiculous! These people are on the wrong street - what about hollywood, all the basketball, football, baseball and other athletes and those in the music industry raking in millions and lets not forget about the 1% in DC. At least wall streeters provide a source of financing for companies employing millions (i.e. Steve Jobs and Apple needed wall street to go public, sell its bonds....) what do these DC, Athletes, hollywood types do - other than give the tabloids something to keep writing about! No fan of wall streeters but I think the majority of 1%ers are elsewhere!!! WRONG STREET GUYS.

[Jeffrey Bryson]

01:08 PM on 11/13/2011

Except they're not currently providing financing to small businesses, which are the major employers in the United States.

Nobody cares if providers of actual goods or services make a lot of money. They deserve it. What we do care about is the unconscionable influence this gives them over the political process, and how the rules are rigged to do nothing but ensure that the 1% stay in the top 1% without providing room for others to move up the ladder.