The Kanye West situation

At least six organizations have cut ties with Kanye West (Ye) over the past few days, including Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, and the Creative Artists Agency. The moves follow multiple antisemitic comments made by the rapper-turned-fashion-mogul in interviews and on social media earlier this month.

• Examples include threatening to “go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” in a tweet, and claiming that “I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me” in a recent podcast interview, among other things.

📝 More details… Ye is no longer a billionaire after the loss of his Adidas deal, per Forbes, which said the agreement had accounted for $1.5 billion of his ~$1.9 billion net worth. The termination also represents a heavy blow to Adidas’ bottom line; the German company said it’ll take a $246 million hit in 2022 alone.

• Overall, the Yeezy brand generates nearly 10% of Adidas’ annual revenue, per Morningstar analyst David Swartz (~$2 billion/year).
• Last month, prior to the antisemitic comments, Ye publicly accused Adidas and Gap of stealing his designs and breaking contractual promises to expand his Yeezy brand.

🛣️ In related news… Over the weekend, an antisemitic hate group called GDL hung banners from an overpass above a busy Los Angeles freeway prompting cars to honk if "Kanye is right about the Jews," per StopAntisemitism, a non-partisan org that monitors instances of antisemitism.

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