Arcade Fire Satirize Kendall, Kylie Jenner T-Shirt Controversy

Arcade Fire satirized Kendall and Kylie Jenner’s controversial “vintage” T-shirt line – which featured the reality stars’ faces superimposed over famous musicians like Notorious B.I.G., the Doors and Ozzy Osbourne – by selling their own shirts that feature the logo for their upcoming LP, Everything Now, emblazoned on the Jenners’ faces.

According to a Twitter photo of Arcade Fire’s merch stand from their Tuesday concert in London, all proceeds from the shirts will benefit non-profit health care organization Partners in Health.

The Jenner debacle began last Wednesday, when the sisters’ online shop unveiled the new line of T-shirts utilizing the images of rock and rap icons like Tupac Shakur, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Kiss and Led Zeppelin. The tees, which retailed for $125 and were printed with the words “Repurposed in the USA,” faced an immediate and inevitable backlash from the artists and their families and estates.

So @arcadefire are selling their own versions of *those* Kendal and Kylie Jenner t-shirts pic.twitter.com/vTrKrDJPxp

— Thomas (@thomasjsmith__) July 4, 2017

The late Notorious B.I.G’s mother, Voletta Wallace, blasted the Jenners on Instagram. “I am not sure who told @kyliejenner and @kendalljenner that they had the right to do this,” she wrote, captioning an image of one shirt augmented with a massive red X. “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!!!”

Wallace’s lawyer, Julian Petty, also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Jenners, according to TMZ.

The Doors also issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Jenner sisters, asserting that the shirts used “Protected Property without the Doors’ authorization or consent,” a move that is “likely to cause dilution by tarnishment of the famous mark” and “harms the reputation of the Doors.”

Jeff Jampol, manage of the Doors and the Jim Morrison estate, also criticized the duo for selling the exploitative shirts. “This is a case of people who fashion themselves as celebrities who are famous for being well-known but don’t actually do anything trying to utilize and steal and capitalize on the legacies of those who actually did do something and created amazing art and messages,” Jampol told Rolling Stone. “It’s ironic, at least, and criminal, at worst, both morally, ethically and artistically.”

Sharon Osbourne, husband of Ozzy Osbourne, also excoriated the sisters. “Girls, you haven’t earned the right to put your face with musical icons,” she tweeted Thursday. “Stick to what you know … lip gloss.”

The Jenners have removed the products from their site and apologized for the designs. “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,” they wrote in identical Twitter messages. “We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in anyway [sic]. 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.”

Notorious B.I.G.’s mom has slammed Kylie and Kendall Jenner for using the rapper’s image without permission on a T-shirt. Watch here.