Carter almost seemed to enjoy a moment, mid-afternoon, when Viola read aloud a 2014 email in which the rapper had written that “the partners” on the perfume release “suck.” The star was quick to tell the court (twice) that “the partners” referred to Parlux. “I wanted great products and these guys didn’t understand,” the star added. “It was so frustrating working with them.”
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Adding insult to alleged injury, the fragrance company said the rapper rejected a design for a Gold Jay-Z bottle with an 18-karat gold exterior that was worth over $20,000, but that he pocketed the prototype.
— Parlux vs Shawn Carter gets going. Read more in Jay-Z Testifies in Perfume Lawsuit: ‘You Have Me on Trial for Something I Didn’t Do’ at Rolling Stone.
A really interesting read! Including this tit bit:
“In the fragrance industry, it is virtually impossible to sustain the success of a celebrity fragrance brand,” the lawsuit claimed, unless the brand is bolstered by “promotional support from the celebrity in the form of public appearances” in addition to “regularly updating and refreshing the brand with ‘flanker’ launches and new line extensions.”
Yep. He could just have asked his wife.
But she was with Coty. They may have done subpar celebrity stuff as well, but in general they did better than Parlux. If he wanted “great products” maybe he should have spent more time investigating what they’d already done.
I do not envy the Parlux lawyer who had to cross examine Jay-Z in front of a jury. You are automatically a villain.