FOR Cristal, the champagne of tsars and rappers, the party may be ending. A boycott against the prestigious French bubbly by high-spending celebrities is spreading across American clubland.

Cristal has been praised in pop lyrics since Jay-Z, an influential rapper, mentioned the “Cris” in a Top 10 recording in 1996. Now, offended by what Jay-Z claims are racist remarks by the champagne maker’s president, performers including his girlfriend Beyoncé Knowles, Jamie Foxx, the Oscar-winning actor, and Rihanna, the Barbadian pop singer, are turning to rival brands.

The storm began when Frederic Rouzaud, the newly appointed managing director of Louis Roederer, the 230-year-old champagne house that makes Cristal, was asked if its association with hip-hop’s “bling” lifestyle could be detrimental to its image.

Rouzaud, speaking to The Economist, replied: “That is a good question but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Don Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have the business.”

Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, retorted that Cristal owed black singers millions of dollars for free publicity by linking their wine with the good life in hit songs.

“Surely he meant to say thanks, right? Anything else but a thank you is dismissive, insulting and racist.”

The pop entrepreneur immediately replaced £350 bottles of Cristal with Don Perignon at his chain of nightclubs and added: “I hear the Krug rosé is pretty good right now. I hope they are happy with us drinking it, because I would hate to go through all this again.”

Jay-Z said he would also change the lyrics to songs mentioning Cristal in his forthcoming tour.

The backlash is gathering momentum. Beyoncé switched to “lighter” drinks at a music awards show last week, said a spokesman, and Rihanna said she would toast the success of SOS, a remake of British duo Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, which is high in the American pop charts, “with something not Cristal”.

The rapper Lil Kim has joined the anti-Cristal movement. Last year, when she was facing jail on perjury charges, she toasted her farewell in Cristal. Upon her release last week she stocked her July 4 party with Krug.

Although few Jay-Z fans can afford his lifestyle — young rappers perform on stage with scavenged Cristal bottles filled with water — the boycott could hit buoyant sales in America.

Laura Ries, a consumer analyst and author of The Origin of Brands, suggested Rouzaud should go for a drink with a rapper to try to retrieve the situation. “Fashions and sales start with bad boys, not in the white suburbs,” she said. “Companies like Roederer need Jay-Z more than he needs them if they want to reach the young and affluent.”

The company has issued a statement saying Jay-Z’s accusations of racism were “unjust”, but adding that it had been “a little bit dismayed at seeing our wine being sprayed around in celebration rather than being sipped”, a comment on a common scene in rap videos which may have compounded the original sense of injury.

Cristal has a proud history: it was created in 1876 for Alexander II of Russia who demanded a crystal-clear bottle so assassins could not smuggle a dagger into court.

The champagne is only produced in small batches, making any boycott more potent. It sells in Britain for about £200 a bottle.

Jay-Z, who has built a £200m fortune by running the successful record labels Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella, was among the first lyricists to sprinkle luxury brand names such as Bentley and Burberry into his boastfully aspirational songs. Some manufacturers have jumped on the free endorsements: Cadillac credits rappers in turning around the stodgy reputation of its Escalade 4x4 car. Mercedes-Benz said it sponsors rap award shows “because they show what our brand is all about — the rewards of success”.

Not everyone is angry at Rouzaud. Malcolm X Abrams, a leading writer on black culture, said it was sad that, in the face of real problems such as poverty and disease, people were worked up about an “overpriced drink” and a “casual dis by a snooty Frenchmen”.

He added: “It’s hard to get worked up as Rouzaud is French and everyone is beneath the French.”

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