Nicki Minaj Puts Giuseppe Zanotti on Blast: ‘The Racism and Disrespect Won’t Be Tolerated’
Fridays are the best days to call someone out on Twitter. Example: Nicki Minaj just shared a series of tweets and ‘grams directed at shoe designer Giuseppe Zanotti Friday morning, inspiring the #GiuseppeWhatsGood hashtag:
Back in 2011, Nicki Minaj rocked a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti sneakers inspired by, well, Nicki Minaj.
[youtube ytid=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpHyRYmId3E?wmode=transparent&jqoemcache=hc5Z4%5D
In a tweet Friday morning, Minaj recalled meeting the designer and expressed frustration at the fact that Zanotti had been willing to give other artists capsule collections but refused to take her call:
Minaj, calling on the Barbz team to get #GiuseppeWhatsGood trending, confirmed such “racism and disrespect” would no longer be tolerated:
Minaj added that the main issue is disrespect, not necessarily the money potentially earned by using her name while allegedly refusing a capsule collection. Any potential earnings, she said, could instead be donated to charity:
Minaj later joked that she and Giuseppe should be booked for the “next big fight” after Chris Brown and Soulja Boy’s supposedly forthcoming showdown:
After a brief break, Minaj returned to Twitter Friday afternoon to specify that she would like any potential profits donated to St. Jude’s and continued dropping #FACTS:
Here’s a sampling of Nicki-inspired Giuseppe shoes:
As Fashion Law explained Friday, Minaj could potentially pursue legal action. Trademark claims could be made if Minaj can “successfully assert trademark rights in her first name,” an assertion that’s a possibility given her high-profile status as a public figure and the brand-specific spelling of “Nicki.” If an infringement claim were to be pursued by Minaj’s team, proof would have to be presented showing that consumers were “likely to be confused” about her affiliation with Giuseppe’s products.
