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Black Paper Party

Status: active as of 2026-09-09

Also known as: Black Paper Party LLC

Black Paper Party is operating as of 2026-09-09, but reputable later reporting says the $250,000-for-10% Barbara Corcoran deal accepted on air did not close off-camera.

Shark Tank appearance

Season 15, episode 8

Air date
2023-12-08
Appearance source
Black Paper Party Shark Tank clip — Sony Pictures Television pitch
Episode guide
Authoritative episode guide
Pitch
Inclusive holiday and celebration products featuring Black characters and culture.
Ask
$250,000 for 5% equity
Offer
Barbara Corcoran proposed $250,000 for 20% with Mark Cuban; after negotiation Black Paper Party countered/accepted $250,000 for 10% from Barbara alone.
Deal closed?
No

Dated timeline

DateEventEvidence
2020 Madia Willis, Jasmine Hudson and J’Aaron Merchant launched Black Paper Party. BPP05
2023-12-08 ABC broadcast Black Paper Party in season 15 episode 8. BPP01
2023-12-08 Founders accepted Barbara Corcoran’s $250,000-for-10% offer on air. BPP03
2023-12-11 CEO Madia Willis told The Philadelphia Inquirer that BPP and Corcoran’s team were still working out details before anything was official. BPP03
2024-02-13 BLACK PAPER PARTY word mark registration 7306092 registered to Black Paper Party LLC, an Arkansas LLC. BPP09
2024-12-31 Inc later reported 2024 revenue of $1.4 million, compared with $797,000 the prior year. BPP04
2025-spring Target did not reorder Black Paper Party products; founders told AfroTech the brand ceased being shelved there. BPP05
2025-12-16 Inc reported the founders did not close the off-camera deal with Corcoran. BPP04
2026-09-09 Black Paper Party’s current site actively sells products. BPP06

Legal and entity identity

Legal entities
Black Paper Party LLC
Aliases
Black Paper Party LLC
Successor/acquirer
None verified

Arkansas

Black Paper Party LLC · unresolved

Limitation: USPTO registration 7306092 identifies Black Paper Party LLC as an Arkansas LLC. Arkansas SOS entity filing number and current good-standing/status were not returned by the web interface; exact portal logged in search trail.

Black Paper Party — Arkansas Secretary of State official registry · accessed 2026-09-09

Notable findings and disputes

  1. strong corroboration Black Paper Party is operating as of 2026-09-09, but reputable later reporting says the $250,000-for-10% Barbara Corcoran deal accepted on air did not close off-camera. [ BPP06, BPP04 ]
  2. verified fact The provisional label “Black Paper Company” is a tracker error, not a company alias. ABC’s official roster identifies the pitch as Black Paper Party in S15E8; preserve the old row only as correction provenance. [ BPP01, BPP02 ]
  3. credible report Current company retail page still advertises Target availability, while Inc and AfroTech report Target stopped carrying the brand in 2025. This is an observable current-page-versus-dated-report conflict; no archive proves when or whether that page was edited. [ BPP08, BPP04, BPP05 ]
  4. credible report Later reputable reporting supersedes early headlines calling the on-air acceptance an investment: the off-camera deal did not close. [ BPP03, BPP04 ]

What we could not verify

  • Arkansas SOS filing number and current standing for Black Paper Party LLC.
  • Executed Shark Tank diligence/termination documents; non-closing is supported by Inc but the private deal file is unavailable.
  • Assignment chain from Madia Willis Art and Design LLC to Black Paper Party LLC for older marks.
  • Wayback snapshots of the 2023 company/retail pages; archive search returned no indexed results in this environment.

Full research sources

  1. BPP01 — Black Paper Party — ABC official episode roster ABC official episode roster published 2023-12-08 accessed 2026-09-09

    Black Paper Party is in broadcast season 15 episode 8; episode air date and official company description.

  2. BPP02 — Black Paper Party — Sony Pictures Television official video carried from project ledger Sony Pictures Television official video carried from project ledger accessed 2026-09-09

    Official video provenance. Earlier tracker mapped this video to the wrong provisional company label/episode; ABC roster controls broadcast episode mapping.

  3. BPP03 — Black Paper Party — contemporaneous reputable reporting contemporaneous reputable reporting published 2023-12-11 accessed 2026-09-09

    Ask $250,000 for 5%; accepted on-air Barbara Corcoran $250,000 for 10%; founders said post-broadcast that details were still being worked out before official.

  4. BPP04 — Black Paper Party — reputable retrospective reporting reputable retrospective reporting published 2025-12-16 accessed 2026-09-09

    Deal with Barbara did not close off-camera; 2024 revenue $1.4M versus $797K prior year; Target later stopped carrying brand; fundraising/hiring plans.

  5. BPP05 — Black Paper Party — reputable founder-interview reporting reputable founder-interview reporting published 2025-12-30; updated 2026-01-02 accessed 2026-09-09

    Operating through 2025; Target non-renewal in spring 2025; 9,000-store footprint claimed; Dollar General renewed for 2026.

  6. BPP06 — Black Paper Party — current official company site current official company site accessed 2026-09-09

    Current direct-to-consumer operation and product catalog.

  7. BPP07 — Black Paper Party — current official company page current official company page accessed 2026-09-09

    Founders and current company narrative.

  8. BPP08 — Black Paper Party — current official company page current official company page accessed 2026-09-09

    Current page still says Target products are available online/in store, conflicting with 2025 Inc/AfroTech reporting that Target stopped carrying the brand.

  9. BPP09 — Black Paper Party — USPTO official record USPTO official record published 2025-2026 office-action record; underlying registration 2024-02-13 accessed 2026-09-09

    BLACK PAPER PARTY registration 7306092, serial 97390591; owner Black Paper Party LLC, Arkansas LLC, Bentonville address; registration live/registered.

  10. BPP10 — Black Paper Party — Arkansas Secretary of State official registry Arkansas Secretary of State official registry accessed 2026-09-09

    Registry search portal located; browser did not execute a name-result submission, so entity filing number and current standing remain unresolved.

Status-Verification Sources

  1. Black Paper Party — current official company site (blackpaperparty.com)
    Current direct-to-consumer operation and product catalog.
  2. Black Paper Party — reputable retrospective reporting (inc.com) 2025-12-16
    Deal with Barbara did not close off-camera; 2024 revenue $1.4M versus $797K prior year; Target later stopped carrying brand; fundraising/hiring plans.
  3. Black Paper Party — ABC official episode roster (abc.com) 2023-12-08
    Black Paper Party is in broadcast season 15 episode 8; episode air date and official company description.