We Love Her For This: Before Beyoncé Signed Huge Adidas Deal, She Walked Out Of Reebok Meeting
She Stands For Something
This story will give you even more reason to love Beyoncé as she stands for something. ESPN writer Nick De Paula broke the news while sitting down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols of The Jump, he revealed Beyoncé walked out of meeting with Reebok after she highlighted the pitch team’s lack of diversity and non-existent representation of her background and skin color.
“Throughout this process over the last year or two,” DePaula told the hosts, “she had discussed with Under Armour, with Reebok as well, Jordan [at Nike] at one point was interested in maybe partnering with her. She had a meeting at Reebok and they had a whole presentation of everything, potential products, how this could all look, and she kind of took a step back and said, ‘Is this the team that will be working on my product?’”
Continued DePaula: “Somebody said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Nobody in this room reflects my background, my skin color and where I’m from and what I want to do.’ So she took a step back and left and then it did not come to terms.”
“For her, it really goes beyond that. It’s not just about putting her name on a shoe and here’s the new Adidas Beyonce 1, or whatever they end up calling it. It’s about having an imprint on the company and an impact in terms of diversity,” he concluded.
The BIG Deal!
Page Six Style reported Adidas has signed Beyoncé as its new creative partner, the brand announced on Thursday.
As part of the deal, the 37-year-old pop star will be developing an all-new line of products for the athletic giant ranging from performance to lifestyle, which will include shoes and clothing.
Adidas also plans to relaunch the musician’s own brand, Ivy Park, which initially launched with Topshop in 2016. Beyoncé will retain full ownership of the label, as well as debut a program aimed at empowering the next generation of athletes and creatives “driving positive change in the world through sport.”
