Maria Puente , USA TODAY June 30, 2017

Kendall and Kylie Jenner have been caught in another marketing faux pas, and on Thursday they were apologizing on social media.

The youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan on Wednesday unveiled "vintage" rock T-shirts with their Instagram faces superimposed over some of rap and rock's icons, such as Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Pink Floyd, the Doors, Kiss and Led Zeppelin.

The shirts went on sale on their website, selling for $125 each and featuring the logo "Repurposed in the USA."

This did not go over well, and especially not with Voletta Wallace, mother of the late Christopher Wallace, the real name of Notorious B.I.G. She slammed the girls on Instagram, calling the shirts "disrespectful, disgusting, and exploitation at its worst!!!"

"I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this," she fumed next to a picture of a shirt with a big red X through it. "The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me. I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my Son Christopher to sell a t-shirt."

Sharon Osbourne, wife of Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne, tweeted her contempt in scathing terms the Jenners would understand.

"Girls, you haven’t earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know…lip gloss."

Daughter Kelly Osbourne posted an image of herself on Instagram, superimposed on a picture of Kendall and Kylie, and aiming an obscene gesture at the sister duo. "#CurrentMood," she captioned the picture.

Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael, posted three tweets chastising the sisters for trying to turn music legends into "fashion" brands. "pink floyd is not chanel. led zeppelin is not michael kors. metallica is not givenchy. don't get it twisted. #bandsnotbrands#RESPECTMUSIC," she tweeted.

Oops. Time for contrition, big time. The designs were "not well thought out and we deeply apologize to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists," Kendall tweeted Thursday. She said the shirts were pulled and the images removed.

"We will use this an opportunity to learn from these mistakes and again, we are very sorry."


The shirts have since been removed from the Kendall + Kylie website.

It was the latest of recent marketing missteps by the Kardashian-Jenner reality clan. Kendall was widely mocked in April for appearing in a Pepsi ad that ripped off imagery from Black Lives Matter protests and positioned Kendall as soothing race relations with a can of soda.

After an outcry, Pepsi dumped the ad and apologized to Kendall, but few people believe the soda company alone was responsible — "momager" Kris Jenner had to have seen the storyboards before Kendall signed up.

Earlier this month, Kim Kardashian was slammed for hawking her new makeup line by allegedly using "blackface" images in an ad that featured a decidedly darker-skinned Kim. She apologized, suggesting that maybe the lighting was off during the photo shoot. And the line sold out regardless.

Also this month, Khloe Kardashian was accused by fashion designer Destiney Bleu of copying her bedazzled clothing designs for Khloe's new Good American collection — and Bleu had email receipts to back her up. Khloe denied the claims, calling Bleu's accusations "little more than a cheap publicity stunt."

Disrespectful af...

I was watching The Talk today and Sharon Osbourne said she thinks this was a publicity stunt for their clothing brand. Sharon said the Janners/Kardashians have lawyers who know about using someone likeness and the Jenners knew what they were doing by putting out these shirts.

MickyDolenz said:

I was watching The Talk today and Sharon Osbourne said she thinks this was a publicity stunt for their clothing brand. Sharon said the Janners/Kardashians have lawyers who know about using someone likeness and the Jenners knew what they were doing by putting out these shirts.

Wouldn't surprise me one lil bit...Ew

Reality sux.

Kylie, Kendall Jenner Respond to 'Baseless' Tupac T-Shirt Lawsuit
Sisters' company argues Michael Miller's photos were properly purchased through licensing company
by Daniel Kreps July 10, 2017 Rolling Stone

Kendall and Kylie Jenner have responded to a photographer's lawsuit that the sisters used his Tupac Shakur images without permission for their controversial, now-canceled T-shirt line.

"The allegations made are completely false and the lawsuit is baseless," the Jenners' clothing company said in a statement.

On Friday, photographer Michael Miller, who took the photographs of the rap legend that the Jenners then overlayed their own images on top of, said the sisters "misappropriated and wrongfully exploited" his work. Miller's suit added the Jenners "intended to exploit his photography, let alone obtain his authorization."

However, the sisters' company argued that "no infringement or violation of anyone's rights" had occurred regarding the Shakur photographs since they purchased the images from a company that had been authorized to license them, Sky News reports.

"Canada Inc, the licensee manufacturer of the K + K brand, purchased a very small quantity of vintage T-shirts with performer images already on them. Only two Tupac T-shirts were sold before being pulled from distribution," the Jenners said in a statement. "Canada Inc did not copy anyone's image, remove any copyright notice from any image or attempt to exploit Mr. Miller's claimed right of publicity."

As Miller lawyer's Scott Alan Burroughs previously noted, the photographer registered his Tupac images at the U.S. Office of Copyright and could receive statutory damages of $150,000 per photo.

In a separate statement Friday, the Jenners' representative Todd Wilson said that Kendall and Kylie had no role in the actual creation of the clothes. "It's like suing an actor for being in a movie," Wilson said of Miller's lawsuit.

While the Jenners have faced the specter of legal action from artists like the Doors and the Notorious B.I.G. – the estates of both filed cease-and-desist orders and left the door open for possible lawsuits – Miller is the first to actually sue the sisters over their ill-advised shirts.

Arcade Fire satirized the Kendall and Kylie Jenner T-shirt controversy by selling their own shirts with an album logo emblazoned over sisters' faces.

i'd heard about the biggie shirt, but had no idea they'd actually were finna do a whole series with this shit. just because they ain't got a lick of talent don't mean they can dickride via screenprinting folks who are talented.

I can't stand the Kardashians and Jenners......disgusting people they are!

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I thought the Jenner girls would be better people, but they just followed in their big sister's footsteps. Shame.

In this era of covers, samples, rip offs, remakes, reboots and reimagining, it's the perfect representation of the current state of pop culture.

lrn36 said:

In this era of covers, samples, rip offs, remakes, reboots and reimagining, it's the perfect representation of the current state of pop culture.

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Yeah, and it's cheesy as hell.

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attention seeking whores at their finest.

lrn36 said:

In this era of covers, samples, rip offs, remakes, reboots and reimagining, it's the perfect representation of the current state of pop culture.

and they know this too and milked it

alphastreet said:

lrn36 said:

In this era of covers, samples, rip offs, remakes, reboots and reimagining, it's the perfect representation of the current state of pop culture.

and they know this too and milked it

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I would wear these if I could find them at clearance prices.

CAL3 said:

alphastreet said:

and they know this too and milked it

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I would wear these if I could find them at clearance prices.

So in a nutshell, you endorse appropriation? If you found them at a clearance price, you could keep them and auction them later if it goes up in value for being a collector's item among the kartrashians; but even then I would question the integrity behind supporting what offended many. What do they know about struggles most of these people who actually got famous for talent actually had, and literally lived and died for their art?

[Edited 7/27/17 8:46am]

alphastreet said:

CAL3 said:

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I would wear these if I could find them at clearance prices.

So in a nutshell, you endorse appropriation? If you found them at a clearance price, you could keep them and auction them later if it goes up in value for being a collector's item among the kartrashians; but even then I would question the integrity behind supporting what offended many. What do they know about struggles most of these people who actually got famous for talent actually had, and literally lived and died for their art?

[Edited 7/27/17 8:46am]

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I should've clarified. If I saw them for 2 bucks each I might buy a couple (but limited to Zeppelin, Doors, Floyd, Ozzy) and wear them only in very specific environments as a joke.

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I don't know what they do or don't know about the artists on the shirts. I can't get inside these girls' heads anymore than you or anyone else.

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Anyway, no I don't endorse appropriation. But I also know these could be funny in the right setting.