New Rocawear ads, featuring the family of a man shot dead by NYC police right before his wedding, were released yesterday, sparking a storm of legal controversy.
The ads, which show the widow of Sean Bell and the couple’s two daughters, were released just one day before a trial started for three officers accused of excessive force in an incident that killed Bell in a barage of 50 bullets.
The clothing company, owned by Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z, has been accused of intentional efforts to prejudice the trial. “This was a planned publicity stunt timed to influence the jury,” said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association.
Jameel Spencer, chief marketing officer for Rocawear, defended the ads, insisting the goal is to tell stories of people who overcome adversity. “It embodies the spirit of how Rocawear was born - how hip-hop was born,” he said. “We’re trying to highlight different stories.
Bell was shot to death by undercover NYPD detectives in November 2006 after leaving his bachelor party at a New York club. He was set to marry the mother of his two daughters, Jada, 5, and Jordan, 1, just hours later. The mother, Nicole Paultre married Bell posthumously.
Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora are charged with manslaughter and could face up to 25 years in prison. Detective Marc Cooper is charged with reckless endangerment and may avoid jail time altogether.
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I THINK THATS BEAUTIFUL , WHY NOT SHOW LOVE FOR A WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN WHO DEFINATELY NEEDS TO BE EMBRACED FROM EACH AND EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET , THE SAME WAY THAT THAT WAS HER HUSBAND /FATHER , IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE OF OUR RELATIVES REGARDLESS TO WHAT PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO THINK ~ I RESPECT JAY Z FOR THAT AND IM NOT A DIE HARD FAN OF HIS BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS HES RIGHT ON .... I MIGHT EVEN BE TEMPTED TO THROW UP THE ROCK FOR THAT ONE GOOD L;OOKIN JAY ~
