Dear All,
I got it wrong, and I’m truly sorry.
A post went up yesterday that used the images of an innocent victim from bad reporting and I am deeply sorry for the pain and anxiety that I have caused Stephanie Roché.
I am sorry that too Foot Locker, a long time supporter of Nice Kicks, was pulled into the mess of the bad reporting and sloppy journalism.
In addition to the pain and frustration I have caused to Stephanie and Foot Locker, I would also like to apologize to everyone who reads Nice Kicks. It was said over and over in social media that they expect better from Nice Kicks, and that is validation more than anything that I screwed up immensely.
In the wake of realizing that the images used were stolen, I handled the retraction in a horrible way using the parallel to being “catfished.” While many were saying that I was “catfished” on social media, flat out, I fucked up. I fucked up. Bad journalism, bad reporting. Nothing else needed to be said.
Bad journalism, bad reporting. Nothing else needed to be said.
It has been nearly a decade that I have been blogging about sneakers and without question, yesterday was my lowest low. I can’t describe enough how awful I feel for the pain that I caused Stephanie and Foot Locker along with letting all of you down who trust myself and my team.
I acted alone and want all blame directed at me. There was zero involvement from my team in the investigation, the reporting, or the retraction. It was all me. Please voice any of your anger and frustrations to me at @matthalfhill on twitter or email at matt.halfhill@nicekicks.com. I deserve it all.
I can do much better and will do so going forward.
My sincerest apologies to everyone, but especially to Stephanie and Foot Locker.
Matt Halfhill
Nice Kicks
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Post from earlier below:
In an earlier post, we showed photos of a Foot Locker employee in uniform that have apparently been stolen from another Instagram account. From verifying with the account owner, @shoekrave_steph_ lifted photos from the account of the real Stephanie Roché (@roshaayy).
In our investigation, we called the Foot Locker in the Dallas NorthPark Center where we verified that a Stephanie was working speaking with her. In a followup call to the Foot Locker store at NorthPark Center, no one by the name of Stephanie was on hand and were told no one by that name was employed by Foot Locker.
We are deeply regretful that the images of Stephanie Roché, a manager at a Foot Locker store in Pennsylvania, were included in the piece. We are sorry for any pain, frustration, and anxiety this has have caused.
Stephanie Roché is not associated with @shoekrave_steph_ or any of the acts done by that account.
