Anyone trying to sell a White Lives Matter shirt — Kanye West included — will now get a cease-and-desist letter after these two Black radio hosts acquired the trademark to prevent people from profiting off the phrase.
radio show, own the trademark"White Lives Matter."During Paris Fashion Week, the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, hosted a"secret" catwalk event where models wore T-shirts displaying the phrase"White Lives Matter." Ye had planned on selling the shirts before eventually dropping off boxes filled with the tops at homeless encampments in Los Angeles, never officially releasing the design.
"We talk about all the things that need to be talked about, right?" Ja told NPR."This person listens to our show and says, 'You know, who would be a better decider for the future of this thing that is now owned by me? Would be these gentlemen.' And so that person reached out to us again, stipulated, 'Hey, look, if anything ever happens in the future, monetarily, please, you know, donate half to these certain orgs.' And we intend to do that if that day ever comes.
"That was part of the scary thing about being assigned this trademark. Ramses and I walked 4 or 5 miles that day just kind of trying to wrap our head around what just happened," Ward told NPR."And we understood that there was going to be some responsibility that came with that, some backlash, some people that don't understand. But we're equipped to have those conversations.
"Every day, there's a new headline with this one individual who's very, very visible, establishing or bolstering a narrative that's very harmful and allowing a certain base of this country to point to him and say, 'Look, he feels that way, so it's OK if I feel that way too, right?' So for us to take a little bit of that back and give it to the people who are on the front lines and kind of at the bottom of that feels good.
"We've definitely had to consider [that] everything that goes into protecting a trademark is now, for better or worse — we're in that space. So, we'll see how it goes," said Ja."But for so far, it's been the symbolism of it, and the impact that that has had has been very meaningful, especially to communities that have been very hurt ... by one individual in particular saying some very hurtful things.
"Now that our faces and our names are tied to this, there is a responsibility for the outcomes to be good. Like, we can't hide. ... That's ... part of the responsibility [and] we accept it. If there are any outcomes, especially financial outcomes, they cannot be to benefit us. So we can't go buy a new car or go on vacation. They have to serve and build up these communities that have been hurt by the rhetoric that's on the opposite side of Black Lives Matter," Ward said.
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The trademark 'White Lives Matter' has been filed by 2 Black radio hostsAnyone trying to sell a White Lives Matter shirt — Kanye West included — will now get a cease-and-desist letter after these two Black radio hosts acquired the trademark to prevent people from profiting off the phrase.
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Ye can't sell 'White Lives Matter' shirts — 2 Black radio hosts own the trademarkAnyone trying to sell a White Lives Matter shirt — Kanye West included — will now get a cease-and-desist letter after these two Black radio hosts acquired the trademark to prevent people from profiting off the phrase.
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Kanye West can't sell 'White Lives Matter' shirts because two Black men own the trademarkWest wore a shirt with an image of Pope John Paul II on the front and the words 'White Lives Matter' written on the back during a surprise catwalk event held at Paris fashion week.
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