Kendall and Kylie Jenner 'very sorry' for selling dead artists' T-shirts
"We will use this as an opportunity to learn from these mistakes," they said.
— -- Apologetic Kendall and Kylie Jenner have stopped selling T-shirts that bear the likenesses of late rappers such as Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, and living artists including Ozzy Osbourne.
The shirts were going for more than $100 each and Voletta Wallace, Biggie’s mother, joined critics who slammed the use of such artists' images apparently without permission.
The two Jenner sisters took to Twitter Thursday night to announce that they had stopped selling the shirts and apologize to anyone who took offense.
"These 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," she wrote. "We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in anyway. The tee shirts have been pulled from retail and all images have been removed. We will use this as an opportunity to learn from these mistakes and again, we are very sorry."
The apology came after Wallace posted an Instagram notice stating the shirts had "no affiliation to" her son's estate. Neither she nor the estate was contacted, she added.
"I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this," she wrote. "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. This is disrespectful , disgusting, and exploitation at its worst!!!"
Sharon Osbourne also spoke out about her husband's likeness being used on the shirt.
"Girls, you haven’t earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know … lip gloss," she tweeted.
The backlash isn't the first of the year for Kendall Jenner, 21, who was in a pulled Pepsi commercial in April.
The ad featured Jenner’s encountering a protest before handing a police officer a Pepsi to end the protest, sparking a heated debate on social media.
"Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” PepsiCo said in a statement at the time. “Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize.”