Jean-Michel Basquiat Friends Slam Tiffany Ad Featuring JAY-Z And Beyonce

There is a lot of negativity surrounding the ad campaign that JAY-Z and his wife Beyonce did for Tiffany.

The criticism is twofold.

First, Beyonce is wearing a notorious blood diamond.

Second, a previously unseen painting from legendary street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat -- who died in 1988 at 27 -- features in the ad's background.

Basquiat hawking a luxury brand is bit much for his fans to take, and now two of his friends have denounced the ad campaign

"Unfortunately, the museums came to Jean’s art late, so most of his art is in private hands and people don’t get to see that art except for the shows. Why show it as a prop to an ad? Loan it out to a museum. In a time where there were very few Black artists represented in Western museums, that was his goal: to get to a museum," said Basquait's ex-girlfriend Alexis Adler.

His former personal assistant took direct aim at Tiffany.

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A post shared by Stephen Torton (@stephen_torton)

"I was Jean Michel Basquiat’s assistant . I designed and built stretchers, painted backgrounds, glued drawings down on canvas, chauffeured, travelled extensively, spoke freely about many topics and worked endless hours side by side in silence . The idea that this blue background , which I mixed and applied was in any way related to Tiffany Blue is so absurd that at first I chose not to comment . But this very perverse appropriation of the artist’s inspiration is too much .
« They » tortured his legacy with condescending bullshit in The LV show in Paris. Check out the incoherent, inaccurate gibberish on the audio tour if still available. That « They » speculate and monetize, commercialize and manipulate every manifestation of this rebellious genius is not to my taste but that is the game. But leave deciphering his message to those who know or leave it alone," Stephen Torton typed.