Columnist Uses Racial Slur to Slam Jay-Z's Brooklyn Nets

by The Hollywood Reporter  |   May 04, 2012 4:30 EDT

New York Post columnist Phil Musnick is coming under fire for writing a scathing editorial about Jay-Z and his Nets basketball team, which is moving to a new arena in Brooklyn next season.

Mushnick, no stranger to controversy, decries the team's relocation from New Jersey to its Atlantic Avenue home, the Barclays Center, and the control given to the rapper-businessman in remodeling the team's image.

What Do You Think of Jay-Z's Brooklyn Nets Logo?

"As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots - what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new 'urban' home - why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?" Mushnick writes.

"Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N------s?" he continues. "The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B----hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!"

Jay-Z owns a minority share in the Nets -- they're owned for the most part by Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov -- and helped the team announce in 2010 that they'd be moving to Brooklyn. The team announced that the re-located club would be named the Brooklyn Nets in September 2011.

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Jay-Z to perform first concert in Brooklyn arena (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jay-Z will be the first musical performer to play at a new basketball arena under construction in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn-born rap star said on Monday.

"This is where I'm from, I'll always be Brooklyn, and opening this arena will mean more to me than anywhere else," he told a news conference.

Dates and prices were not announced, though Jay-Z said there could be up to three shows.

The Barclays Center, under construction since 2009, is due to open in September 2012 and will be the home court of the New Jersey Nets, who will be renamed the Brooklyn Nets, Jay-Z said.

The rapper is a minority owner of the team.

Jay-Z, whose wife Beyonce is expecting their first child, released a collaboration album called "Watch the Throne" with fellow rap star Kanye West in August.

(Reporting by Paula Rogo; Edited by Daniel Trotta)

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Jay-Z to perform first concert in Brooklyn arena

Rapper Jay-Z performs at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles August 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

NEW YORK | Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:03am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jay-Z will be the first musical performer to play at a new basketball arena under construction in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn-born rap star said on Monday.

"This is where I'm from, I'll always be Brooklyn, and opening this arena will mean more to me than anywhere else," he told a news conference.

Dates and prices were not announced, though Jay-Z said there could be up to three shows.

The Barclays Center, under construction since 2009, is due to open in September 2012 and will be the home court of the New Jersey Nets, who will be renamed the Brooklyn Nets, Jay-Z said.

The rapper is a minority owner of the team.

Jay-Z, whose wife Beyonce is expecting their first child, released a collaboration album called "Watch the Throne" with fellow rap star Kanye West in August.

(Reporting by Paula Rogo; Edited by Daniel Trotta)

View the original article here