Execs at tony LA boutique Kitson are in a tizzy over the “Today” show and are urging customers to boycott the NBC program after co-host Tamron Hall told viewers to stop shopping there.
Kitson says Hall was out of line when she told viewers not to shop at the chain because it sells duds emblazoned with the names of prescription drugs by designer Brian Lichtenberg — known for his cheeky, provocative threads.
Lichtenberg’s Kitson shirts look like athletic jerseys but are printed with the words “Vicodin,” “Adderall” and “Xanax” where a player’s name would be. When some complained the clothes glorified drug use, “Today” covered the story, and Hall commented on-air: “People should not shop there until they get that down. It’s irresponsible.”
Kitson requested an apology from NBC, then wrote a boycott “manifesto” against “Today” and some of its advertisers, accusing Hall of “judging the merchandise without due diligence” and overstepping the “boundaries between journalism and commentary . . . attempting to harm Kitson’s business.” The manifesto has since been posted in Kitson’s LA stores and is even inserted into customers’ shopping bags and online orders.
Kitson sent letters in recent weeks to NBC Universal head Steve Burke and news chief Pat Fili-Krushel, demanding an on-air apology. An NBC insider said the show “offered Kitson the opportunity to give a statement that would run on-air and online, and they declined.”
Meantime, Lichtenberg, whose customers have included Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, has leveled a $100 million federal lawsuit against his younger brother, Christopher, for allegedly ripping off another of his T-shirt lines, which pokes fun at a French fashion brand with the words “Ballin Paris.”
Brian Lichtenberg’s lawyer, David Graziani, said, “Just like Cain did to Abel, jealously and anger has clearly fueled Chris Lichtenberg’s fire to systematically and intentionally destroy Brian Lichtenberg’s business and, in turn, his livelihood. We are blessed that in America there is legal recourse to remedy the bad acts of the defendants.”