It seems the owners of one of the worlds most distinguished champaigns just can't see the marketing possilibities in pouring bottle after bottle over a bunch of ho's and bitches'. And that's really sad.

The move comes after what Jay-Z (or the Jigga man, or J Hova, or Shawn Carter) has described as "racist comments" by the MD of Cristal manufacturer Louis Roederer, one Frédéric Rouzaud, during an interview with - of all publications - the Economist. Asked about hip-hop's obsession with Cristal, he said he treated it with "curiosity and serenity" and later, when asked whether he saw the publicity as detrimental to the brand, he said, "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

Not one to mince his words, Jigga responded quickly. "It has come to my attention," he said in a statement, "that the managing director of Cristal ... views the hip-hop culture as 'unwelcome attention' [actually a sub-heading from the article]. I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life." In a sly touch he went on to say that, instead, he will be stocking only Dom Perignon and Krug.

No longer, it seems, shall we hear lyrics such as "let's sip the Cris and get pissy-pissy" (as found in Jay-Z's own track Hard Knock Life).

The Gaurdian