The moment was touted as a breakthrough for Black women, but Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s Tiffany photoshoot was hit with severe criticism. The art collectors posed in front of a coveted, long-unseen Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, Equals Pi, that was reportedly used to offset the image in Tiffany’s signature color. Not quite an exact match, but close enough for the brand.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé stole attention because she was adorned with the Tiffany diamond, a piece of jewelry that was first discovered in a Kimberley diamond mine in South African back in 1877. Charles Lewis Tiffany purchased the 287.42-carat rough stone the following year, and it has only been worn by four people—Beyoncé included—and the singer mark’s the first Black woman.
With this revelation comes a pledge by Tiffany to donate $2 Million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but not everyone is impressed with Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s display. The public was quick to point out the ongoing scandals involving blood diamonds and the exploitation of African workers. Critics stormed the internet by the thousands to call out the billionaire couple, and after The Grio reposted images, Beyoncé’ mother, Tina Lawson, jumped in the comments to call out naysayers.
“How many of you socially conscious activist own diamonds ? I thought so !” she wrote. “Well guess what did you go to try to check to see where the diamond came from? Probably not ! So when you guys get engaged you won’t have a diamond you gonna put on a sterling silver band And you better check out where it came from and the origin of where came from and why you add it check out the calls for the Leather that you weird because they made it came from another country to to ban and not buy diamonds right because your righteous !!”
Although it was a little garbled due to a few typos, it looks as if Lawson is calling the diamond activism by many a tad hypocritical. Check it out below.
