Ebony Magazine Takes Easy Way Out

A couple days ago, one of Kimora Lee Simmons's Twitter followers sent a tweet complaining about an ad that Essence Magazine was running that featured a Baby Phat coat. An ad that included Kimora's name as though she is still with them. I haven't seen it, so I can't make a judgment until I do. I've got a major life shift going on right now, so my focus is not exacty as sharp as it should be on some things, but as it turns out, I'm getting two for one because of it.

After the young lady mentioned the Essence ad, I figured I'd go out and pick it up to see for myself. And, I did...or so I thought. I picked up a magazine from 7-11 yesterday and carefully flipped through every page looking for the aforementioned ad. I didn't see it. What I did see was the thing you see in the photo above. Even yesterday, I thought, "This isn't an ad. They just mention that she left." Sure, it wasn't an ad, but I should have hopped on the fact that they claim she "left" immediately, because that's not true. She was forced out in the worst way by a bunch of sexist pigs.

So, today I decide that I'd send some tweets with admonishments to Essence for the lazy reporting...only to realize that I'd picked up an Ebony Magazine! While that wasn't the plan, to get an Ebony Magazine, I'm glad that I did or I would've never seen this lazy piece of information sharing.

Ebony has done a magnificent job of upgrading and modernizing the layout of that the time-honored beacon in the African-American community, so you'd think this Kimora Lee Simmons/Baby Phat story would be the perfect piece to get them some more credibility. You know, make some tough decisions to cover a story that would ruffle a few feathers. But, no. They decided to take the easy way out and I couldn't be more disappointed. If the Huffington Post could get even close to reporting why she actually isn't there any longer, I certainly expect that Ebony Magazine can.

Contact Ebony on Twitter at @EbonyMag to let them know your level of disappointment regarding this matter. Or, let them know via a special survey that they've set up to get feedback on the 65th anniversary edition on their website. The same one with that weak piece of reporting regarding Kimora and Baby Phat. No need to be rude or anything. Just let them know that we expect better of them. --Sugar

For Whom the Tweet...Tweets

Twitter has proven itself a valuable marketing tool for businesses in every industry. It has especially done so for the world of fashion. Within seconds, a designer is able to reach tens of thousands, or even millions, with news about a new product or service. So, an individual tweeter's relationship with his, her or its followers is extremely important.

Kimora Lee Simmons has done a remarkable job of not only nurturing a relationship with her supporters, she is also building an even greater following at an amazing speed. This blog is dedicated wholly to supporting her new efforts and at crushing any future success of the "new" Baby Phat due to Kellwood Company's disgusting dismissal of Kimora just a few weeks ago as creative director of the brand. A dismissal that they have yet to refute was in part due to her then alleged size 10 frame. So, imagine my surprise when a few events surrounding the Baby Phat twitter page recently transpired.

A couple of weeks ago, a quick search for the page revealed that it had been deleted. I mean, it was just gone. Vanished. Nothing. So, a few days ago, one of Kimora's young followers announced that there was a new Baby Phat twitter page, but its tweets were "protected". As in, you had to have permission to follow them and read whatever they tweeted. That doesn't make any damn sense. It defeats the purpose of a business having an account, so I figured they were working on the page and they didn't want to unprotect the tweets until they'd gotten it finished.

I checked the page today and it's not a new page at all. It's the same old page, with a different background and now a blank icon (it used to be Max the Cat), but the same old tweets from before are there, with the ones that mention Kimora noticeably gone. What the hell are they up to? They are currently only being followed by 33 thousand people, but they used to be followed by close to 100 thousand. They aren't following anyone although they must have been following Kimora, at least at some point, because she sent a tweet last week that had her followers abuzz for a while. She tweeted:

do NOT follow me @babyphat! im NO longer there! @OFFICIALKIMORA has left the fuggen building! Pls RT! #TeamFabulosity my loves, lets do tha dam thang!! #fb

I'm not sure whether the onslaught of retweets shook them up or whether Kimora blocked them, but they aren't following anyone today....

I don't also know whether that is an actual Kellwood owned Baby Phat page or whether a fan started it, but considering the fact that the old tweets are there, I'm guessing that Kellwood does own it. If so, who is the moron who's operating it? It's bad enough that they've hijacked the company, refusing to give the customer base a proper explanation for the rude dismissal of Kimora, but this Twitter move is like, what the fugg? It shows how lost they are without her. They don't know what to do. They realize that the customer base is more quickly being informed about what they did and they don't like it. Well, too damn bad. I predict that by next year this time, Baby Phat will be closing up shop and Kimora Lee Simmons will be an even more powerful force in the world of fashion than ever before.

Don't buy any clothing items from Baby Phat or Phat Farm. Nothing. No respect? No dollars. They can go to hell. --Sugar