In 2019, Rare Bird became the subject of national attention when it cancelled a book by first time novelist Natasha Tynes. Tynes, a writer in Washington, D.C., had tweeted out an image of a uniformed black female
Washington Metro employee eating on the train. Rare Books called Tynes' actions "truly horrible" and cancelled distribution of her novel, telling the author that "did something truly horrible today in tweeting a picture of a metro worker eating her breakfast on the train this morning and drawing attention to her employer. Black women face a constant barrage of this kind of inappropriate behavior directed toward them and a constant policing of their bodies... We think this is unacceptable and have no desire to be involved with anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to jeopardize a person’s safety and employment in this way.” Amidst the controversy, Texas multimedia company
Cinestate acquired the book to be the first title launched under their new
Rebeller literary imprint, part of a larger
lifestyle brand that also encompassed an action movie label and website. The book was released in April 2020, two months before Cinestate shut down amidst a sexual abuse scandal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2020/august/cinestate-metoo-abuse-scandal-dallas-sonnier/ ==References==