It looks like BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have fallen in and out of love.
BlackBerry announced Thursday that it is ending its relationship with the musician, who was named as the company's global creative director in January of last year.
Thorsten Heins, then the CEO of BlackBerry, announced Keys' appointment on stage at a BlackBerry 10 event as part of a broader effort to refresh the company's image. One year later, Heins is no longer CEO, the BlackBerry 10 devices have been huge flops and the company itself has been bleeding money. At the end of this month, Keys will be gone, too.
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"BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have completed our year-long collaboration," the company said in a statement provided to Mashable. "We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and passionate individual."
From the start, hiring Keys appeared to be a publicity stunt. However, Keys claimed to be actively involved with the company. In her role as creative director, she encouraged BlackBerry users to submit photos, which she then used in music videos. She also helped launch the BlackBerry Scholars Program, a four-year scholarship for women.
There was also the occasional embarrassing episode, like when Keys was caught tweeting from an iPhone during her tenure at BlackBerry. Perhaps now she can go back to her true love, the iPhone, guilt-free.
Image: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty