Beyoncé Wears Blood Diamond in New Tiffany & Co. Campaign; Receives Deserved Backlash
An iconic couple. A prolific artist. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting, “Equals Pi” (1982) makes a rare public appearance with two of today’s most respected creative forces, @Beyonce and @sc. #AboutLove #TiffanyAndCo pic.twitter.com/jZM1WbDL69
- Tiffany & Co. (@TiffanyAndCo) August 24, 2021
Beyoncé and her husband are the new ambassadors for jewelry company Tiffany & Co. In the campaign, Beyoncé is the seen wearing the 'iconic' Tiffany diamond, a 128 carat yellow diamond stolen from South Africa in the 1870s. Beyoncé is the first black woman to wear this particular symbol of colonialism and white supremacy.
A very good piece from Karen Attiah in the Washington Post about why this is considered a blood diamond.
“If Black success is defined by being paid to wear White people’s large colonial diamonds, then we are truly still in the sunken place.” https://t.co/zK2cviNiMD
- Karen Nicole Attiah (@KarenAttiah) August 27, 2021
Some quotes:
'Tiffany may be trying to rebrand, but it has badly misjudged the ethos of the moment. Its campaign does not celebrate Black liberation - it elevates a painful symbol of colonialism. It presents an ostentatious display of wealth as a sign of progress in an age when Black Americans possess just 4 percent of the United States’s total household wealth. If Black success is defined by being paid to wear White people’s large colonial diamonds, then we are truly still in the sunken place.'
'For years, blood diamonds and conflict minerals from Africa were defined narrowly, as resources used by dangerous militias and warlords to finance their operations. But thousands of African lives were lost and communities destroyed in the colonial quest to control the continent’s resources. And today, South Africa’s White minority continues to hold most of the country’s power and wealth.'
'Black liberation cannot come from the same institutions that engorged themselves for decades on exploited Black labor. Charity will not save us. Only a fundamental reimagining of our society and sincere efforts at reparations will do that.'
Beyoncé flexing her blood diamond extracted from the Kimberley Mine in South Africa in 1877 using enslaved African labor. https://t.co/QrZdV6zwz1 pic.twitter.com/YAiPO5Kttm
- SLANK (@DabSquad_Slank) August 23, 2021
if beyoncé isnt giving that diamond back to Africans, i dont give a fuck about her wearing that colonial plunder. we’re supposed to be excited racists finally let a Black woman touch their stolen goods? get out of my face. pic.twitter.com/skRfIXvTde
- Wagatwe Wanjuki 🇰🇪 🇧🇸 (@wagatwe) August 24, 2021
beyonce wearing that diamond after her mother africa era affirms the BIK critiques. the diamond exists because of cheap black labor, black death, and south african apartheid. ✨AFRICA✨ was an aesthetic for her to commodify, never a declaration of pan-africanist solidarity. https://t.co/3x9XxAsCP5
- igboamericano (@igboamericano) August 23, 2021
Beyoncé's mom went into the comments on a post on the The Grio's instagram to defend her daughter in the messiest way possible.
Beyoncé's reps have stated that “Beyonce is aware of the criticism and is disappointed and angry that she wasn’t made aware of questions about its history."
“She thought that every final detail had been vetted, but now she realizes that the diamond itself was overlooked.”
It should be pointed out that Lady Gaga also wore this necklace just two years ago in 2019 in her campaign for Tiffany and did not receive any backlash.
lady gaga and beyoncé wearing the tiffany diamond that's it, that's the tweet pic.twitter.com/bFlHqwHbz1
- 𝕸 (@M0NSTERTINGZ) August 23, 2021
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
This is kind of old news but I still thought it deserved a post.