Streetwear giant Supreme killed a major sponsorship deal with a top pro skateboarder — and then spread “malicious” rumors blaming him for the fallout, a new $26 million lawsuit alleges.
Tyshawn Jones, a 26-year-old pro-skater from the Bronx hailed as the best in the sport, is suing Supreme for not just arbitrarily killing his $1 million-a-year deal — and his 13-year relationship with the brand — but also for “destroying” his young career by effectively blacklisting him, his bombshell suit claims.
“I am saddened it has come to this, but I have a duty to myself and my career, and feel a responsibility to the next generation of skateboarders to stand up for what is right,” Jones told The Post on Monday.
“Supreme’s success has been shaped in large part by the contributions of young talent, and I believe those contributions deserve to be respected.”
Jones — a worldwide phenom considered by many to be the “Michael Jordan of the sport” — is known for his impressive skating feats across New York City — a talent that Supreme picked up on early when it offered him a sponsorship when he was only 13.
But after Supreme killed the deal last September — in an alleged effort to quickly shed costs — other brands started backing away from Jones, too, he claims in his lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Supreme allegedly “told multiple third parties ‘Tyshawn was kicked off Supreme’ for breaching his agreement with them,” citing a photoshoot last year where Jones was dressed in another brand’s clothes, the suit states.
But Supreme had never raised concerns in the past over similar photoshoots — and actually kicked Jones to the curb in a desperate effort to ditch its debt and stock obligations to the skater before the company was to be sold to eyewear giant Luxottica, the suit alleges.
“Supreme’s termination is pretext for cost-cutting,” the filing claims. “Doubling down on their bad faith and willful breach Supreme, through several statements both impermissible and false, has widely disparaged Tyshawn as a liability, a risk — someone no brand would want to affiliate or work with.”
Jones began skating at age 10 and quickly gained fame and notoriety in the niche sport, landing a namesake Adidas shoe model in 2019.
In both 2018 and 2022, Jones was named “Skater of the Year” by Thrasher Magazine, considered to be one of the sport’s highest accolades.
But one of his earliest backers was Supreme, the suit states.
“The names ‘Tyshawn’ and ‘Supreme’ go hand-in-hand,” the suit states, “akin to the relationship shared by Nike and Michael ‘Air’ Jordan.”
That all ended in September, when Supreme told Jones that their million-dollar deal was over, with 15-months still left in the contract, which paid the skater $1 million per year.
Supreme called an August 2024 photoshoot in which Jones wore Marc Jacobs brand clothing an “incurable breach” of his contract, according to the lawsuit.
It was a surprise to Jones, who had taken advantage of modeling and photoshoot opportunities for years, which Supreme encouraged and never objected to, the suit claims.
Jones had been dressed in brands like Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton and more, and had starred in a 2022 a global campaign for Tiffany & Co.
Soon after the 13-year partnership was dissolved, Jones claims he learned that his old sponsor was trying to cast him as the bad actor.
Through other people in the industry, Jones heard that Supreme was dispensing a narrative that he was at fault, according to the suit.
For instance, the photographer of the Marc Jacobs shoot told Jones when they ran into each other at Paris Fashion Week in January that Supreme employees told him they were no longer “doing business together.”
Supreme executives were telling other influential people in the skateboarding, fashion, apparel and marketing worlds that they “had to terminate” Jones’ sponsorship, “falsely characterizing their termination as forced by Tyshawn’s material misconduct,” the suit alleges.
“Supreme’s disparagement of Tyshawn is fodder for extensive industry gossip, which has quickly spread throughout the fashion, apparel and skateboarding marketplace,” the filing states.
Supreme did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Jones’ lawsuit seeks the $1.25 million he claims he was still owed through his contract term.
He is also asking for $25 million in damages for Supreme’s alleged “wanton and egregious conduct” towards him, and to help “disincentive other like-situated companies from destroying young athletes’ careers with impunity in the name of commercial gain.”