Salehe Bembury, Versace's vice-president of men's footwear, was stopped and searched for "jaywalking" near the Italian fashion brand's branch in Beverly Hills. Footage of the encounter shows a cop checking out the sneakers he's got—sneakers he designed. Bembury believes he was racially profiled. [via BBS]
"What's unfortunate is I literally designed the shoes that are in the bag and I'm fucking being searched for them," Bembury appears telling police officers in a video of the incident.
In the footage from 1 October, police officers ask Bembury why he is crossing the road. "I jaywalked, I don't know what to say," he answers, adding that he was looking at his GPS to see where he was going. One of the policemen then asks Bembury to show them his ID without reaching into his pockets. The police then ask him to put his arms behind his back while he's searched.
Recall earlier this year, when the black editor of British Vogue was told to come in through the loading bay by a security guard when arriving at work.
