By: Arianna Santiago
On Oct. 25, Ye, Kanye West, was dropped by Adidas after West was recorded saying and tweeting antisemitic speech.
According to CNN, Adidas “does not tolerate any antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.”
The company also said that these comments are “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous.”
After Ye being dropped by Adidas, Forbes reported that the collaboration was an estimated $1.5 billion dollar deal. This automatically bumped him from Forbes’ list of billionaires and brought his net worth down to $400 million.
Before Adidas, Ye lost his relationship with Balenciaga, Gap pulled its Yeezy Gap merchandise from its stores and website, as well as Foot Locker refusing to sell any Yeezy products now and any in the future.
“I feel like all along these companies knew he’s been making discriminatory comments, but once he got publicly bashed for a specific comment, they feared their PR’s reputation and dropped him from their line,” said Noelle Singer, UT marketing alumna.
This comes after Ye started saying publicly antisemitic comments, conspiracy theories and attacking the Black Lives Matter Movement in early October.
On Oct. 3, during Paris fashion week, Kanye asked Candance Owens and a Yeezy model to wear a “White Lives Matter” top. The term used is associated with a neo-nazi group that came about in retaliation to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Over the next few days, Ye started posting a variety of alarming comments on social media. One of the most significant being a tweet he made on Oct. 9 saying he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”
Defcon is defense readiness in the United States and level three is defined as “forced readiness increased above levels.” He defended his comment by saying that black people are “Jew.” Twitter immediately locked his account. So did Instagram a few days prior for another antisemitic post.
“Kanye is obviously dealing with mental health issues and needs to seek professional help,” said Katie Martz, senior environmental science major at UT. “Mental health is still not an excuse for being antisemitic and can be rooted in deeper issues.”
More concerning social media activity was seen by Ye. He has previously stated he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder–having several public manic episodes but never to this extreme.
“Just because he is famous and has a high status does not make it okay and I feel like a lot of people with status get away with it,” said Martz.
On Oct. 15, in a deleted video starring Kanye on “Drink Champs,” Ye stated that George Floyd’s reason of death was drug related.
Floyd was killed by officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck. Floyd’s family sued West for $250 million seeking damages for defamation, harassment, misappropriation and infliction of emotional distress.
On Oct. 17, Kanye bought the app Parler — a conservative social media platform. According to Forbes, “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said West.
Later in the month more alarming news came to the surface as CNN reported that close anonymous sources to Ye claimed he wanted to name his 2018 album after Adolf Hitler. Many stated that he has an “obsession” with the Nazi leader.