How Kanye West’s billion-pound empire is falling apart after rap superstar made series of vile anti-Semitic remarks
GAP and Adidas are the latest brands to cut ties with rapper Kanye West in response to his “hateful” and “inexcusable” anti-Semitic comments.
The American clothing company yesterday announced it was immediately removing the fashion designer’s Yeezy products from its stores and shutting down its associated website.
While Adidas eventually confirmed it was terminating its partnership with the Grammy winner — who changed his name to Ye last year — following days of mounting pressure from celebrities on social media.
The German sportswear company, whose collaboration with Yeezy is estimated to bring in £1.5billion in annual revenue, said: “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.
"Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
It appears the 45-year-old’s world is imploding just 11 months after he proudly claimed on social media: “They can’t cancel us . . . I’m above it.”
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The latest controversy kicked off at Paris Fashion Week three weeks ago when Ye wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt, considered by many to be a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Days later he said he was going “death con 3 on Jewish people,” an apparent referral to the US military’s Defense Readiness Condition (Defcon), which indicates the level of threat to national security.
Ye’s misuse of the term was seen as his intention to start a metaphorical war on Jewish people, which he later doubled down on.
The billionaire went on to allege he wasn’t “anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew also” and that he is the victim of a “Jewish underground media mafia”.
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During an interview on Uncensored with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, he insisted he did not regret his anti-Semitic remarks, though he later apologised for the “hurt” and “confusion” he had caused.
But it was too little, too late.
Ye was restricted from posting on Instagram and had his account locked on Twitter. It prompted him to say he would buy the “uncancellable” Parler, which claims to be a “viewpoint-neutral social media app dedicated to freedom of expression”.
And on Monday, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 42 — and one of the most followed celebrities on social media — also condemned his behaviour, posting on her accounts: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
Despite 24 Grammys to his name and record sales in excess of 160million, his future in music is also hanging in the balance.
Ye’s record label Def Jam Recordings, owned by Universal Records, has this week been holding emergency meetings regarding his future with the label. It is considering terminating their 19-year relation-ship, going back to the release of his hit 2004 debut, The College Drop-out.
It would be a devastating conclusion for Kanye, who has baffled friends by continuing to stand by his hateful comments.
He has been dropped by his talent agency CAA, as well as his lawyer Camille Vazquez, who had only recently been hired for the sake of his business interests.
She recently represented Johnny Depp on trial in the US, but felt working with Kanye was a step too far.
Despite Ye opening Balenciaga’s Summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month, the designer brand has also cut ties.
And its parent company Kering said it “has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”
American Vogue Editor-in-Chief, who has sat front-row with the rapper at fashion shows and put him on the cover of her magazine with Kim, is also boycotting Kanye.
A spokesman for Vogue magazine said “that neither the magazine nor does its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour intend to work with Kanye West again.”
And a recently-completed documentary about him has been shelved.
Bosses of film studio MRC, which made the project, said: “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”
The outspoken billionaire is no stranger to controversy.
Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.
Kim Kardashian
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 he said on live television of the then-president: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Four years later he was branded a “jackass” by President Obama after storming the stage at the MTV VMAs and telling Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift that Beyonce deserved the award.
Provoking further uproar in 2018, he said: “When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
He was also criticised for voicing support for then US President Donald Trump and wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats.
Kanye posted on social media: “You don’t have to agree with Trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother.”
In recent years he has also been vocal in slamming his ex-wife — mother to his four young children — as well as her former boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media.
But many feel there is no coming back from his latest outbursts.
Adidas’s collaboration with Yeezy had been one of the most successful in its history.
The end of their partnership will result in a net loss for the company of £217million in 2022 alone.
Divisive and ignorant
And it will not just be a financial loss for Adidas, though, as it is believed Kanye will lose his billionaire status as a result.
It is clearly not something he had prepared himself for.
Two weeks ago, he boasted on a podcast: “The thing about me and Adidas is I can literally say anti-Semitic s**t and they can’t drop me. I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”
It prompted David Schwimmer and fellow stars to call on Adidas to drop the rapper.
The Friends actor said: “His hate speech calls for violence against Jews.
“If you interpret his words any other way and defend him, guess what? You are racist.
“If we don’t call someone as influential as Kanye out for his divisive, ignorant and anti-Semitic words then we are complicit. Silence is complicity.”
Comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted: “Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on Twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud”.
His former sister-in-law Khloe Kardashian wrote: “I support my Jewish friends and the Jewish people,” The rapper’s comments led to a white supremacist group performing a Nazi salute and hanging a banner over a busy road in the US, which read, “Kanye is right about the Jews”.
Horrified actress Florence Pugh reacted by writing: “Absolutely appalling. Any form of hate speech only encourages it, it grows and spreads like a disease. Any whisper of antisemitism is dangerous and needs to be addressed and taken down.”
Even previously hardcore fans have withdrawn their support for Kanye, who insists he is entitled to free speech.
Many others are concerned his outburst is a sign he could be suffering a breakdown.
The rapper was diagnosed with bipolar in 2017 and has been vocal about his mental health issues.
In July 2020, seven months before Kim filed for divorce, he made a series of shocking comments on Twitter, some aimed at his then wife and in-laws.
He accused Kim of infidelity and compared her mum, Kris Jenner, to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
But Kim issued a statement begging for “compassion,” explaining his increasingly strange behaviour was a result of his mental health condition.
She said at the time: “I understand Kanye is subject to criticism because he is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions.
"He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder.
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“Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words sometimes do not align with his intentions.”
But as Kanye is now discovering, a mental health condition is no excuse for racism.
