Beyoncé has cut business ties with disgraced British billionaire Sir Philip Green by buying back his share in Ivy Park, their joint clothing venture.
The superstar singer is one of a number of high-profile celebrities to seek to separate themselves from Green in recent weeks, with former pals and collaborators Simon Cowell, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell all distancing themselves from him.
Green, the founder of the retail chain Topshop, was held up for years as an icon of British entrepreneurship, and knighted by the queen. But his reputation was ruined last month amid numerous reports in the British media of his alleged sexual misconduct. Green spent hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to prevent newspapers revealing his identity through the controversial use of nondisclosure agreements with harassed staff, but ultimately failed.
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The billionaire denies the allegations.
Beyoncé and Green’s business relationship goes back to 2016 when they launched sportswear brand Ivy Park.
Now Beyonce’s Parkwood company has bought out Green’s share of Ivy Park for an undisclosed sum, according to a report by dailymail.com.
The site said talks about the deal pre-dated the recent furor, quoting an Ivy Park spokesman saying: “After discussions of almost a year, Parkwood has acquired 100 percent of the Ivy Park brand. Topshop/Arcadia will fulfill the existing orders.”
When it was announced in 2014 that Beyonce was teaming up with Green to produce Ivy Park—named after Blue Ivy, her 6-year-old daughter with husband Jay-Z—she said: “I have always loved Topshop for their fashion credentials and forward thinking.”
She sang at Green’s son Brandon’s bar mitzvah in 2005.
Green’s daughter Chloe recently had a baby with “hot felon”/model Jeremy Meeks.
