Kanye Blocked From Selling ‘White Lives Matter’ Merch After Two Black Radio Hosts Take Ownership of the Trademark
If the rapper formerly known as Kanye West thought his recent, provocative antics would gin up publicity to help him sell “White Lives Matter” merchandise, he’ll have to think again, because two African American radio hosts now own the trademark for that phrase.
Before “Ye” ignited a firestorm of controversy with his anti-Semitic statements, he raised eyebrows at Paris Fashion Week a month ago when he and right-wing commentator Candace Owens appeared in “White Lives Matter” t-shirts. The phrase has been a subject of controversy for years as the Anti-Defamation League and other critics have condemned it as a racist derivative of the Black Lives Matter social justice movement.
As Ye’s controversies take their financial toll on him, Capital B reports that he won’t be able to profit off of “White Lives Matter” fashion, because he’s legally prohibited from doing so under copyright laws.
The outlet reports that Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, two Black radio hosts based out of Phoenix, Arizona, were given “White Lives Matter” trademark after it was procured by an anonymous listener of their show, Civic Cipher. Ja told the outlet in an interview that the purchaser gave the trademark over to them after explaining that they bought it in the first place in order to prevent the phrase from being owned by someone seeking to profit off of hate speech.
“This individual didn’t want to produce those shirts, but rather it’s my understanding that they were doing it to ensure that the right people benefited from it,” said Ja. “This person procured it but didn’t really love owning it, so they approached us to ensure that the right people benefit from it and that people aren’t hurt by it. They felt we were in a much more public position to use it to the advantage of Black folks.”
The Civic Cipher co-hosts became the phrase’s owners on October 28, and Ward re-affirmed their goal in his own comments flagged by CNN.
“Once it was clear that someone stood to gain significant profit from it, because as you’ve seen, even though [West] says some really hurtful, divisive and sometimes crazy things, he has a bit of a zealot following and every time he releases something, it sells out,” Ward said. “So he’s still — in the face of offending all these people — stood to gain a significant amount financially by putting this term on shirts and calling it fashion. So, if there was something that we could do to stand in the way of that, then absolutely, let’s sign up for it.”
Watch above via CNN.
