After making recent antisemitic remarks, rapper Ye is not only being dropped by many of his sponsors but his agents as well, causing his working documentary to be canceled.
Some of the brands include Balenciaga, Creative Artists Agency, Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe and Rottenstreich, GAP, JPMorgan Chase, MRC, TJ Maxx, The Real Real, Peloton, Foot Locker and one of his longest-supporting partnerships, Adidas. Ye was also banned from social media platforms amid the controversial tweet.
“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up, I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” Ye tweeted Oct. 8.
This caused a reaction from many of his fans and former supporters.
According to the Washington post, following the tweet and after weeks of consideration Adidas decided to drop the rapper Oct. 25 releasing the following statement.
“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.”
The separation between Adidas and Yeezy will cause the net income to see a loss of $248 million.
This was not the first incident where Ye had made remarks that led to controversy.
During the Yeezy Season 9 premiere at Paris Fashion week, Ye appeared wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt with Candace Owens.
During the show, models were spotted with the same shirt on, causing yet more discomfort to the crowd including actor Jaden Smith, who had tweeted during the occasion “I had to dip lol” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Ye tends to have controversial fashion statements that favor his political views, including his “Make America Great Again” hat worn at his SNL performance in support of former President Donald Trump.
Having a noticeably large audience has influenced many people to agree with the antisemitic remarks including a situation in Los Angeles, California, where fans hung a banner along the freeway stating, “Kanye was right about the Jews.”
The Holocaust Museum in LA got hate mail shortly after the damage Ye had created began.
What had been a once in a lifetime occurrence became a daily occurrence with around 10 hate emails or comments the museum would receive.
The museum reached out to Ye to offer a tour so he would be able to “learn from firsthand witness where hate and prejudice can lead when bigotry goes unchecked,” according to NPR.
Students on-campus have made it a habit to stop promoting Ye by no longer listening to him, including sophomore Andrea Ramirez.
“He is a very controversial person, and I believe that he, as a person of color, should not be going after another community that has had its hardships as well. He should instead be using his platform as a place where he can make peace not cause hatred,” Ramirez said. “He should be held accountable because he is a very well-known person, and he can rub people off in the wrong way. Just because he is a role model to some, could lead to his fans in ‘thinking’ the same way.”
This has brought up a very long-awaited question of, why Ye has not been held responsible for a long time up until now?
The rapper has apologized to the Jewish community and families he may have hurt for his remarks in an interview with Pierce Morgan.
“I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the death-con, the confusion that I caused,” Ye said.
Ye continued by, explaining that his attitude was caused due to his trauma, stating that “hurt people hurt people.”
After the controversy, his net worth dropped from $2 billion to $400 million in loss of brand partnerships, according to Forbes.
Fatima Alvarado is the layout editor and may be reached at [email protected]
