Adidas, others cut ties with Kanye West over comments against jews, drops from billionaire status

Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, has been attracting negative attention prompting companies to cut ties with him following several weeks of troubling statements, many of them anti-Semitic.

The ongoing wave of offensive speech began at Paris Fashion Week at the beginning of this month and continued with unaired footage from an interview with Tucker Carlson, false statements made during a podcast appearance about the cause of George Floyd’s death, and recent anti-Semitic remarks made on social media.

Those remarks appear to have emboldened a group of demonstrators to hold a sign over a Los Angeles freeway that read, “Kanye is right about the Jews” while giving a Nazi salute, according to photos.

The comments he made on Twitter and during his since-deleted podcast interview with Drink Champs—where he made unfounded claims that Jewish people hold immeasurable power in media—have gotten him locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts, and prompted a slew of companies to cut ties with him. He has been posting instead on Parler, the right-wing social media app he has announced plans to buy.

On Oct. 9, West tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people, in reference to the defense system used by the United States to signal military defense, and argued that he isn’t anti-Semitic because “black people are actually Jew[s] also,” leading his account to be locked.

Company after company has decided that West has finally reached a level of volatility that they can no longer justify working with. West recently hired Camille Vasquez, who served as Johnny Depp’s lawyer in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard. But after he refused to walk back his anti-Semitic comments, Vasquez reportedly dropped him as a client.

One of the biggest brands to cut ties with Ye is Balenciaga. The clothing brand, helmed by creative director Demna, slowly began removing references to Ye from their site—including to their collaboration.

Vogue also vowed not to work with the rapper since Ye berated editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson online after she criticized his controversial Yeezy fashion show in Paris. Page Six reported that a representative for the magazine provided a statement that editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will not work with him again.

In wake of his recent comments, West’s G.O.O.D. Music label is no longer a part of Def Jam music group, the New York Times reports, and his music has seen a marked decrease in streaming numbers.

Gap also joined the slew of brands that are no longer working with West, but the termination of their deal actually originated from West’s lawyer. West blasted Gap on social media, alleging that the brand was taking his designs and not crediting him and excluding him from the creative process. In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Gap “left [Ye] no choice but to terminate their agreement,” according to a letter from his lawyers informing the clothing company of the decision.

Adidas also announced it had ended its partnership with West. On Tuesday, it was announced that West had been dropped by his talent agency, CAA, and studio executives at MRC announced on Monday that they would be shelving a recently completed documentary. “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform,” the executives wrote in a joint memo.

Adidas said the termination of their partnership will deal a financial blow of €250 million ($246 million) to their fourth-quarter sales.

Adidas released a statement which read, in part: “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.”

Kanye no longer billionaire – Forbe

Meanwhile, Rapper Ye’s falling out with corporate partners has cost him his status as a billionaire, according to Forbes.

In the last few weeks, Ye — also known as Kanye West — has seen luxury fashion house Balenciaga, Gap and most recently Adidas end business relationship with him for antisemitic comments and wearing a shirt with a slogan linked to the Ku Klux Klan.

On Tuesday, Forbes, one of the leading trackers of wealth among the world’s financial elites, declared it had dropped Ye from its list of billionaires. It estimated the Adidas deal accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth, but Forbes now estimates it at a mere $400 million.

Forbes said that the $400 million remaining of his net worth comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims.

SOURCES: TIME, CNN