Rick Ross Rocks Fake Louis

To add on to criticism for being a correctional officer trying to emulate a drug lord, now hip-hop rapper Rick Ross has another fraudulent charge to put on his resumé of lies. Ross recently appeared on the cover of XXL magazine donning what appeared to be a pair of Louis Vuitton shades. Yet, in actuality, the shades are nothing more than a counterfeit design that LV claims they don't even sell.

In response, Louis Vuitton wrote a letter to the editor of XXL stating that not only were the glasses fake, but they did not give Ross the permission to advertise their logo:

"Dear Editor:

We are dismayed to see the cover of the May 2009 issue of XXL Magazine, which features a photo of Rick Ross wearing a pair of sunglasses prominently featuring counterfeit Louis Vuitton trademarks. Because the photo has generated considerable confusion among your readers and Louis Vuitton customers among others, we feel it is important to clarify several points.

The first is that the sunglasses Mr. Ross is wearing were not made by Louis Vuitton, and in fact, are counterfeit. Louis Vuitton did not grant permission to Mr. Ross or to whoever did make the sunglasses to use our trademarks. The second is that no affiliation, sponsorship or association exists between Rick Ross or XXL and Louis Vuitton. The third is that counterfeiting is illegal.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to correct the confusion."

So who is to blame for this mass confusion? In many photo shoots, artists are usually assigned a stylist to manage the attire that the person wears. Also, magazine editors know that double-checking is a major part of ensuring that every fact about photos and articles are correct in order to prevent backlash like this. Even if Ross came to the shoot wanting to wear the glasses himself...well his bad, and adds more fault to his already tainted image. Above all, this was obviously a BIG no-no.

These are the shades that are getting all of the hype:

And these are a similar pair of shades that LV DOES make. As you can see, they are void of the LV logo in the center of the frame. Retail: $675: