The hits keep on coming for J. Crew, the American retailer with a downtown preppy aesthetic. After a round of layoffs in early June, the brand's CEO Mickey Drexler has put his sprawling Hamptons estate up for sale. There's only one problem: As Gawker points out, interior photos of the $85 million home show a framed Confederate flag hanging on the wall in one room:
Though the flag on Drexler's wall isn't the Confederate flag's most infamous (or controversial) iteration, it is, in fact, the original flag of the Confederate States of America, dubbed the "Stars and Bars." The photo in question has since been removed from Drexler's listing on realtor Douglas Elliman's website, and when Gawker asked broker Paul Brennan whether Drexler knew the meaning of the flag hanging in his living room, Brennan replied, "I don't think so. Why don't you ask the decorator?" A J. Crew spokesperson also reportedly declined to comment to Gawker.
The Hamptons estate's living room accessory is only one red flag signaling cloudy days ahead for J. Crew — Drexler is also selling a Tribeca apartment and a Wainscott beach house as the retailer's sales fell 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
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