Kendall and Kylie Jenner are in trouble with Notorious B.I.G.’s estate after plastering their faces and initials over the late rapper on vintage tees.
Earlier this week, the sisters released a collection of vintage tees through their eponymous brand that featured their faces and “K.K.” initials emblazoned over images of music artists like Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Pink Floyd, Metallica and Black Sabbath. It didn’t take long for the Jenners to get slammed on social media for disrespecting the respective musician or band.
Voletta Wallace, mother of Biggie (ne Christopher Wallace), was among those most infuriated with the design, taking to Instagram to write, “I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this. The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me.” She added that the shirts, which retailed for $125 each, were “disrespectful, disgusting, and exploitation at its worst!!!”
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Since then, a lawyer for Notorious B.I.G.’s estate has sent a cease and desist letter to the Jenners for “unlawfully exploiting the name, image, and likeness” of the late rapper, reads the letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
The estate’s lawyer, Julian K. Petty, states that the sisters were never given permission to use Biggie’s image, which was “a direct violation of the clients’ right of publicity which has survived his death due to him being domiciled in New Jersey at the time of his murder.” The letter demanded that they stop selling the tees by 5 p.m. on Friday, June 30, or they’d face a lawsuit.
Kendall apologized via Twitter on Thursday, adding that the shirts have been pulled from retail, but the apology wasn’t enough to reverse the damage. Notorious B.I.G.’s estate released the following statement to Billboard: “While we appreciate that the Jenners have made an apology and pulled the unlawful and unauthorized items, this matter has yet to be resolved.”
In a statement to THR, the brand wrote the following:
“The KENDALL + KYLIE brand apologizes for any insensitivity. When deciding to work with one-of-a-kind repurposed vintage tees, it was not the brand’s intent to offend anyone. These designs were randomly selected and not well thought out. The brand would like to apologize, especially to the artists that have been featured in the series. We did not mean to disrespect these icons and understand that we missed the mark completely. The designs have been removed. We sincerely apologize to the artists, their families and estates and anyone who may have been offended.”
It’s unclear if Biggie’s estate will continue with the lawsuit.
