Jay-Z doesn't like picnics-- at least, not in Zuccotti Park.
In a new interview with New York Times Magazine, the rapper and businessman clarified his position on the Occupy Wall Street movement -- namely that he never actually supported the protesters, citing a lack of clarity in their message and their demonization of entrepreneurs.
“I’m not going to a park and picnic, I have no idea what to do, I don’t know what the fight is about," rapper Jay-Z said he told mogul Russell Simmons, who's a strong supporter of OWS.
It was an interesting statement given the New York native's foray into OWS-themed clothing. Rocawear, one of Jay-Z's several business ventures, started selling T-shirts online last year with the slogan, "Occupy All Streets."
Rocawear never said where sales proceeds would be going, although the Guardian reports they were considering a donation to the namesake movement.
"Occupy All Streets is our way of reminding people that there is change to be made everywhere, not just on Wall Street," Rocawear said in a statement obtained by Gawker.
After a backlash, the $22 shirts were apparently pulled from Rocawear's website. It was later reported, however, that the shirts may have simply sold out.
In The New York Times interview, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, who is worth a reported $460 million, also seemed to dispute the OWS movement's blanket critique of America's wealthiest class.
"When you just say that ‘the 1 percent is that,’ that’s not true," Jay-Z said. "Yeah, the 1 percent that’s robbing people, and deceiving people, these fixed mortgages and all these things, and then taking their home away from them, that’s criminal, that’s bad. Not being an entrepreneur. This is free enterprise. This is what America is built on.”
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