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Cockburn keeps up with the Kardashians, so to him, Kanye West’s recent outbursts are not much of a surprise. But over the last few weeks, anyone that didn’t previously know that he was, shall we say, in decline, is now fully aware.
Ye’s antisemitic comments, such as declaring that he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” and continuously talking about how Jews “own the media,” have resulted in dire financial consequences for him, as the various businesses he works with cancel their contracts and denounce his remarks.
The most recent — and arguably the most important — business collab that Ye has watched crumble is his partnership with Adidas. The lucrative multi-year deal to design sneaker brand Yeezy was valued at $1.5 billion. Without it, Ye’s fortune drops to $400 million. The price you pay for hate, eh?
Adidas released a statement earlier today that read:
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.
After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. adidas will stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.
“This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.
Cockburn is surprised it took Adidas that long: he’d think the shoe giant would be particularly sensitive to antisemitism allegations given its founders’ complicated relationship with the Nazi Party during the Third Reich.
Adidas wasn’t the first brand to drop Ye. On Thursday, Balenciaga’s parent company said in a statement that it no longer had a relationship with the rapper following his recent comments.
Balenciaga distanced itself from West after the artist doubled down on his antisemitic remarks during an appearance on the Drink Champ podcast. Ye also asserted that George Floyd died of fentanyl poisoning instead of excessive use of force by Minneapolis police in 2020.
Another blow came for Kanye on Friday, after a spokesperson for Vogue told Page Six that the fashion magazine and its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour have no plans to continue working with Ye.
Kanye hardly seems phased, as he stopped that day to tell the paparazzi, “I ain’t losing no money, the day I was taken off the Balenciaga site, that was one of the most freeing days.”
“We here, baby, we ain’t going nowhere,” he added
Then on Monday, West was dropped by his agency, CAA, and a forthcoming documentary about him by MRC was shelved. And on the same day, the New York Times reported that Def Jam Recordings was “no longer affiliated” with West’s imprint G.O.O.D. Music.
And it’s not just his business partners condemning the rapper. Kim Kardashian, Ye’s ex-wife has also weighed in. Kardashian condemned her ex-husband’s antisemitic remarks on Monday, following a local demonstration on Sunday by a hate group that referenced West.
In Kanye’s latest interview with Ukrainian-Jewish MIT professor Lex Fridman, released yesterday, the rapper again refused to show contrition.
He said: “Fifty percent today of… black people’s deaths today is abortion… It’s not racism; that’s too wide of a term. It’s genocide and population control that black people are in today in America, that is promoted by the music and the media that black people make, that Jewish record labels get paid off of.”
West also accepted that his beliefs have cost him his family and career. “I lost my fucking family. I lost my kids. I lost my best friend in fashion. I lost the black community,” he said. “People said I lost my mind… I lost my reputation. And I’m up here just like, I just want my family.
Presumably after agreeing to purchase Parler, the social media app headed by Candace Owens’s husband, West will be looking for further business relationships with other folks in her financial circles. Does the Daily Wire have a record label yet?
