Alicia Keys and Blackberry Part Ways; Former Executive Says "She Got On a Sinking Ship"

Less than a year after partnering with Blackberry to become the company’s global creative director, Alicia Keys and the global telecommunication and wireless corporation has parted ways. 2013 was a tumultuous year for Blackberry, who lost billions of dollars in its struggle to compete with other smartphone competitors like Google and Apple. The company fired several top executives, including CEO Thorsten Heins and their Blackberry Z10 was a complete failure. With all this said, it’s unclear if Keys was fired or if she resigned from her position, but the company did offer up the below statement. “We thank Alicia for her many contributions including providing creative direction for the BlackBerry Keep Moving Project which attracted more than 40 million visits, advocating for women in STEM and launching the BlackBerry Scholars Program. We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and passionate individual.” Executives from the company told Billboard through anonymity, “She got on a sinking ship.” Outside of the company’s woes, Keys partnership with Blackberry also came with some controversy. The entertainer was an avid iPhone user before the deal, and a month after being hired by the company, she sent out a tweet from her iPhone. The tweet was later denounced as a hack.