Week after week 50 Cent gives the hate column a right to express itself. The week that was Sunday, February 11th through Saturday afternoon, saw hip-hop's resident bully come up short just the once: the ongoing catfight with the one Floyd Mayweather. Otherwise, it was all systems go for a rudderless 50 Cent with a complexity of choices on the table. Let's not forget, most of 50 Cent's longtime rivals are only a flicker away from seeing their feuds re-ignited. Such is the case of a volatile ego left in the hands of a questionable innkeeper. With that being said, Fif found another roundabout way to ruffle Teairra Marí's feathers over an unpaid debt. And though he gave "revenge porn" lawsuit the amount of attention it likely deserved, 50 Cent's fixation of Teairra Marí paled in comparison to his feelings on the Gucci boycott, concerning the brand's launch of a $900 sweater sporting an uncanny resemblance to "blackface." This is how 50 went about his bullying - follow me here. Evan Agostini/Getty Images MONEY MAYWEATHER DOESN'T WANT TO DEAD "NO BEEF." Having a bonafide rival to fall back on is good business. The latest round in 50's ongoing beef with Floyd Mayweather began with the latter party voicing his unpopular yet incisive opinion regarding the "Gucci boycott," undertaken by certain members of the Black community. Floyd's belief is that a temporary ban of Gucci would only suffice in handing the company a non-effectual bruise because as you might already know: the fashion brand is part of a larger consortium falling under the Kering conglomerate, holding the same position of power as sister brands such as Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga. Floyd reckons that a Gucci boycott, under the current stipulations, amounts to a whole lot of automatic thinking or "fake advocacy," as he puts it. It just so happens that his rival 50 Cent was sitting cross-legged on the other side of the debate. So without much trepidation, 50 Cent made his retort for Mayweather a highly-publicized affair, even though in retrospect, the "retired" boxer never once disparaged him by name over anything Gucc-related. But with 50 Cent's ego in a fragile state, things got petty, just as Floyd's opinion started gaining a following all its own across the Net. "Champ you need a publicist," 50 Cent wrote in his subsequent attack of Mayweather. "Man you saying all the wrong shit fool." In a prior Instagram post relating his stance on the boycott, 50 Cent pledged his entire Gucci wardrobe to goodwill. While the opinion polls regarding a "Gucci boycott" suggest a multitude of valid "social actions" remain in play, neither 50 Cent or Floyd Mayweather appears to be righter than wrong, and in truth, to reach a consensus based on the convictions of those affected by "blackface" would entail a whole lot of compression. And yet, something tells me T.I. would have won the debate had the outspoken vet registered himself as a viable 3rd party in the debate. His release of "F*ck N***a" gives him the auspices of a clear winner, not because his opinion is better researched, but because he had the audacity to turn a talking point into a Godforsaken musical number. TAKING THE FIGHT TO HARLEM'S FASHION MAVEN and demanding his paycheck. As the beef with Floyd Mayweather went into intermission, 50 Cent redirected his bickering towards Dapper Dan, whom you probably know as the legendary designer who is often credited with breaking down the Color barrier in Fashion, long before Kanye West staked his claim. Fif's issue with the 74-year-old style maven stems from a hardline position diametrically opposed to his elder's course of action. 50 Cent thinks the "Gucci boycott" is a zero-sum game, whereas Dapper Dan prefers to work inside the rhombus. His perceived disregard of marginalization notwithstanding, Dapper Dan absconded from his textile workshop to link up with the higher-ups at Gucci for an internal discussion concerned with finding a two-prong solution to the scandal. Obviously, 50 Cent was none too happy with Dapper Dan anointing himself a deputy of the people, so without further ado, he brought abject feelings to the sullied waters of Instagram. Rest assured: under no circumstances was 50 Cent playing the middle road when he labeled Dapper Dan a c**n, his issue being: the 74-year-old ought to have chosen his allegiance(s) better. Through no coincidence at all, Dapper Dan was the very person who photographed himself with Floyd Mayweather this past week, right before the 2nd round of hostilities would come to pass. I rest my case on solid ground. On the other hand, 50 Cent's social media activity was about as torpid as you'd expect from such a notorious bully. With "Floyd Mayweather" uncovered as a plausible source to 50's beguiling efforts against Gucci and Dapper Dan, the G-Unit mogul was able to refocus his attention on reclaiming the $30,000 potluck owed to him by Teairra Marí. There's isn't a week that goes by where 50 Cent doesn't ruminate over the small change like a true villainous pedant. See you here this time, next week, and the week after NEXT for yet another ballistic report. Semi-retirement is a helluva of a manic spell to some.<doc-sep>After deliberating the contentious issue with Dapper Dan and a host of "damage control experts," Gucci's CEO Mario Bizzarri is ready to share their findings with an outraged public. With the meeting adjourned, Dapper Dan had this to say about his fact-finding mission with the Gucci higher-ups. "We had some of the best minds from the corporate world participating, and experts in inclusivity and accountability—90% people f color," Dapper Dan wrote in his social media recap of the closed-door meeting. "They made great demands. It's time for Gucci to answer." In response to Dapper Dan's open challenge and the looming threat of a Gucci boycott, CEO Mario Bizzarri outlined his "Diversity" plan, but not before thanking Dan for helping he and his cohorts come to such a realization. "I am particularly grateful to Dapper Dan for the role he has played in bringing community leaders together to offer us their counsel at this time," Bizarri wrote in the capacity of the brand's keynote speaker (in the clutch). "The initiatives we are announcing today represent the first phase of what will become a new systematic long-term plan of action to guarantee that diversity and inclusion are organic in everything we do." Gucci's action plan to embed the company's business and hopefully internal practices, with "diversity" and "inclusivity," come on the heels of its CEO sending company employees a memo along similar lines, this past week. Something tells me this initiative won't be sufficient in curtailing the threat of a boycott, because in order to feel the wind of change, someone or something that Gucci answers to directly, needs to abdicate their throne before healing can begin. "Blackface" is inherently a loaded cultural practice, no matter the level of wreckage.<doc-sep>Floyd Mayweather responded to a diss track from rapper T.I. about his stance on the rapper's call to boycott Gucci by asking why people don't boycott rappers who promote drug use, murder and sexual promiscuity. Mayweather's comments on Thursday came hours after T.I. released a song castigating the former champion boxer for continuing to spend money on Gucci products in the face of an ongoing boycott against the luxury brand that started over a controversial sweater that looks like blackface. In the track – which doesn’t mention Mayweather by name – T.I. called the champ old and greedy. The song’s cover art features Mayweather wearing a marked-up image of the sweater, TMZ reported. Mayweather questioned why T.I. doesn't extend the boycott to other brands under Gucci's ownership and why the boycott is only slated for three months. MELANIA TRUMP SPOKESPERSON CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF T.I. OVER VIDEO FEATURING FIRST LADY LOOK-ALIKE STRIPPING The 12-time world champion has been criticized since a TMZ Sports video surfaced of him at a Gucci store in Beverly Hills. "I'm not no follower, I do what the f--k I wanna do," the boxer said while outside the store. "You know when everybody else, they say, 'Everybody gonna boycott?' I say, guess what, this boy gonna get on a yacht and live life." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The insult follows an Instagram post directed at Mayweather from 50 Cent, using the same mocked-up image of the sweater.<doc-sep>
Spike Lee said he will no longer wear Prada or Gucci until the brands "hire some black designers" after the Italian fashion houses pulled products criticized as racist. Lee said on Instagram that "it's obvious" that "they don't have a clue" when it comes to "racist, blackface hateful imagery." Last week, Gucci stopped selling its $890 balaclava black-knit women's sweater that could be pulled up over the lower half of the wearer’s face. The sweater included bright red lips as a cutout for the mouth. The sweater was being sold in Gucci stores and online before social media users denounced it as resembling blackface. The criticism comes as old photos of prominent Virginia politicians in blackface have embroiled the country in debate. The Italian company released a statement Wednesday saying it "deeply apologizes for the offense caused." It added: "We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond." Prada apologized in December for bag charms and window displays featuring monkey-like characters with outsize red lips, also slammed for resembling blackface. Lee was among those on social media to respond to Gucci's apology by imploring the brand and Prada to employ more black people to avoid similar episodes by being "in the room when" design decisions are made. Rapper T.I. said that, as a longtime customer of the brand who spends tens of thousands of dollars a year on its products, an apology was not enough. “APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED!!!! We ain’t going for this ‘oops my bad I didn’t mean to be racist and disrespectful towards your people,’” he wrote on Instagram Friday. T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., called for a boycott of the brand until it learned to value business from black customers. “If we stop buying ANYTHING they MUST correct any and ALL of our concerns,” he said. “That’s THE ONLY WAY we can get some RESPECT PUT ON OUR NAME!!! !” He followed up his criticism of Gucci and Prada with suggestions of several black-owned fashion businesses to support, including Amir James and ServedFresh. Soulja Boy, Waka Flocka and Russell Simmons weighed in with similar criticism of Gucci and Prada.