‘Jay-Z, Beyoncé helped protesters’
LONDON: Jay Z and Beyoncé privately donated tens of thousands to bail out protesters in Baltimore and Ferguson, says the hip hop mogul’s ghost writer.
Activist Dream Hampton, who worked with Jay Z – aka Shawn Carter – on his 2010 autobiography Decoded, said the Carters wrote a huge cheque to the Black Lives Matter movement. The organiser and filmmaker revealed this in messages on Twitter on Sunday that have since been deleted.
Hampton wrote in the series of tweets: “I’m going to tweet this and I don’t care if Jay gets mad.
“When we needed money for bail for Baltimore protesters, I asked, hit Jay up, as I had for Ferguson, (and he) wired tens of thousands of dollars within mins.
“When BLM (Black Lives Matter) needed infrastructure money for the many chapters that we’re growing like beautiful dandelions, Carters wrote a huge cheque. And more stuff, too much to list, actually, that they always insist folk keep quiet.”
Hampton later wrote that she deleted the tweets because Jay Z “would be p****d to see I was offering evidence”.
The tweets appeared aimed at defending Jay Z and Beyoncé, who some activists have accused of paying only lip service to the movement aimed at stopping police brutality without tapping into the couple’s estimated $1 billion (R12bn) net worth. Even though she took the tweets down, Hampton continued to defend them later in the day and insisted they were true, according to the Daily News.
She said: “I can say that I’ve personally helped facilitate donations they’ve given to protesters directly and that they never ask for anything in return, especially publicity.”
Protests spread last year after a white police officer shot dead black teen Michael Brown in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.
Major demonstrations, some turning violent, erupted last month in Baltimore after a black man, Freddie Gray, died from a spinal injury sustained in police custody.
Jay Z performed in New York as an exclusive for Tidal, the music streaming service he has launched with
They’ve never asked for anything in return
fellow stars, on Saturday.
In a freestyle segment, the Brooklyn-born rapper paid homage to Brown and Gray – and belittled Tidal’s rivals, Spotify and Apple.
Jay Z and Beyoncé met Brown and Gray’s families last week at a peace concert in Baltimore, leaving without making public appearances.
Images of the meetings were posted on social media. In one shot, Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McFadden, posed with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Tina Knowles. – Daily Mail