The designer behind the Cat Ear headphones has spoken out against the reports that Ariana Grande was behind the concept, criticizing the media for “bullshitting” about the pop star’s involvement.
Artist Yuumei designed the headphones, with product developer and specialist retailer Brookstone stating that they bought the rights to her concept. Yuumei originally posted the designs for the headphones to her official site, writing: “I designed the original Cat Ear headphones and co-founded the Axent Wear company.” However, the newly advertised “Ariana Grande Edition” version of the headphones caused some confusion among certain media outlets, leading to Yuumei posting the following on Twitter:
BuzzFeed & other sites skipped over any fact checking before bullshitting about Ariana designing the cat ear headphones. She didn’t, I did. pic.twitter.com/2S1WPAGwo2
— Wenqing Yan (@Yuumei_Art) September 23, 2016
After Yuumei’s tweet garnered a whopping 24,000 retweets Brookstone received some flack from Twitter users, with the company being forced to reply to the complaints regarding Ariana Grande’s reported involvement in the development of the headphones:
@meatthenpudding @Yuumei_Art @ArianaGrande Hello, We appreciate your concern but there’s a misuderstadning. We bought the rights.
— Brookstone (@Brookstone) September 23, 2016
@the_great_aspie We share your love for Axent Wear! They were in the loop on the AG Limited Edition Headphones.
— Brookstone (@Brookstone) September 23, 2016
Following Yuumei’s tweet, BuzzFeed retracted their initial statement and clarified that Ariana Grande was not behind the headphones’ design.
The headphones were manufactured by Brookstone in “collaboration” with the singer, with Brookstone CEO Steven Goldsmith saying in a press statement: “Ariana looks simply amazing in her new Cat Ear Headphones. She’s so much more than a tremendously talented singer and performer. She’s created a whole world of style and fun and beauty, and we wanted to create something that would fit perfectly into this world. We knew she loved cat ears, and that we had a good design, but we weren’t prepared for just how wonderfully they complement her amazing style.”
Ariana added: “Working with Brookstone to create these amazing headphones has been a blast. They represent my style – fun, edgy and unique and I know my fans will LOVE them as much as I do.”
The Cat Ear headphones will set Ariana Grande fans back a sizable $149.99, with them available to be purchased via Brookstone.com.
