Everything You Need to Know About Adidas, Ye, aka Kanye West, and the Domino Effect
Kanye West, now known as Ye, has officially been removed from his lucrative Yeezy brand partnership with Adidas after making what many believe to be anti-Semitic comments on Twitter as well as in recent interviews with the Drink Champs podcast, Chris Cuomo’s News Nation and an appearance on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV.
Many remember Kanye suffering from exhaustion during his Saint Pablo Tour in 2016, which took in over an estimated 50 million dollars when he recovered in a hospital and then made his infamous appearance on TMZ where he declared, among other things, that “slavery was a choice.” He was on camera when speaking about the 400 years that African Americans have suffered under the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade in America, which was followed by the Jim Crow era, which had many Black Americans having to live in a segregated society. His alleged comments at the time on Nazis were stated to have been edited out.
Fast forward to this month, Kanye, one of the wealthiest Black men in the world as a billionaire businessman and artist, was equally vocal in his opinion when he told the cast of Drink Champs that he is “jealous of Jewish people” and their ability to “help their own and to organize for financial success,” something that he states Black Americans are not able to do as a group due to various factors.
One of those factors includes his stance that the media is “controlled by Jewish people,” as well as controls “deals with athletes and musicians” while they “profit off” of Black lives, leaving many with no ability to have their own personal wealth. He goes on to rant about the “bad deals” they allegedly have habitually gotten in years past and the violence in music towards Blacks that is on the top of the charts that artists are creating with “Jewish people benefiting financially from.” He stated, “They aren’t making violent songs about Jewish people killing each other.”
This appearance on Drink Champs came after Ye tweeted that he is going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” which he apologized for on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show. “I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the ‘Death Con’ — the confusion that I caused. I feel like I caused hurt and confusion. And I’m sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I have been through and that I used my platform, where you say hurt people hurt people, and I was hurt.”
Ye retracted his statement on Drink Champs, where he stated he “could have said what he meant in a better way.” Adding that he “wanted to “Me Too” Jewish people” to call out the business practices he feels are holding back Black people. The Drink Champs interview has since been taken down but is still available on some channels on YouTube.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis was vocal online when she tweeted about his comments and also spoke out on The Today Show.
Thank you @jamieleecurtis for explaining why “just a tweet” is so scary and hurtful for Jews.pic.twitter.com/FT2LEIDD2F
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 11, 2022
The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. Your words hurt and incite violence. You are a father. Please stop. pic.twitter.com/8iFuKwwspw
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) October 9, 2022
Many other celebrities and brands came forward to denounce Ye’s words and claimed antisemitism, with some asking why the world was so quiet about Ye’s comments on social media.
No form of hate or discrimination is acceptable – I stand in solidarity and support the Jewish community 💙
— Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) October 26, 2022
Comedian Sarah Silverman was vocal regarding what she deemed a lack of outcry on Ye’s comments, and she was quickly corrected and then also reminded of her black-face skits in the past.
Kanye threatened the Jews yesterday on twitter and it’s not even trending. Why do mostly only Jews speak up against Jewish hate? The silence is so loud
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) October 9, 2022
Black Twitter was quick to step in, to not only state that Black people, in fact, have held Ye accountable, but while they had a right to be upset about what many are deeming as Jewish hate speech, those same people were being called out for not speaking up when Ye’s words were directed at Blacks. Some deemed his language toward Black people abusive, which may have put many in harm’s way, asking why did it take him talking about Jewish people to get action from the brands and celebrities.
Not a single company ended their relationship with Kanye when he said slavery was a choice 👀
— Mightykeef (@MightyKeef) October 26, 2022
Many held those who continued to work with Kanye accountable such as his Sunday Service members and all the brands who continued to do deals with him after he made many controversial statements. Ye has been open about his mental health and claimed he is bipolar, and many have used that to defend his actions or make excuses for it. The narrative online for many is that his behavior has consequences.
Completely understand why my Jewish friends/ colleagues are frightened for their families. This is a very scary time.
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) October 24, 2022
In addition to Adidas dropping Ye, he also was dropped by CAA, who canceled the relationship with his tour agency which he has not used since 2016. Peleton has also stated they will not play any of his music during their workout classes, and Balenciaga has ended their partnership. A Jewish educator has also resigned from Ye’s Donda school that he recently opened, where kids received alternative education for $15,000 per year. Vogue has spoken up and stated they will not work with Kanye West moving forward, which isn’t that surprising as they only started working with a Black photographer for their cover in 2020 and had the first Black woman to style a cover in 2021, so they themselves have their own work to do on inclusivity and discrimination.
Black ppl were still buying Yeezys, still going to Sunday Service, still going to those DONDA shows, still watching his interviews, still listening to his albums, still calling him a genius. Black peers, execs and fans.
— Dante (@AllThingsDante) October 25, 2022
That’s why Kanye’s anti-black speech didn’t cancel him.
As many know the world over, Ye was married to Kim Kardashian and has four children with her. She was publicly defensive after Ye made what some deemed disparaging comments about Black people, despite having Black children herself, only claiming he was struggling with mental health and he was misquoted. Now, with this new commentary on Jews, Kardashian and her family have all put out statements supporting the Jewish community.
Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) October 24, 2022
Kardashian was quick to speak up for Ye and stated he didn’t mean slavery was a choice in the past when she stated, “Kanye’s slavery comment, he never said that. That was just the headline. If you listen to what he said, he said ‘slavery was 400 years. If it’s going to be another 400 years, that sounds like a choice to me.’ He didn’t say ‘slavery is a choice.’ He was saying if you’re going to still be enslaved for another 400 years, then that’s some (expletive).” While she defended him on his slavery remarks, she did not defend him on his Jewish remarks.
Hypocrite. This is what you said when you were asked about Kanye’s “slavery is a choice” :
— Princess S🤍 (@Princesse_S_) October 25, 2022
“I always know what Kanye’s intentions are and what he’s trying but I also know that they’re going to write a headline,”
“Kanye’s slavery comment, he never said that.” https://t.co/glmJ7aMaP4
Ye was recently seen at Candace Owens’ documentary event, challenging the BLM registered group, alleged misappropriation of the 80 million dollars raised in the past years, and questioning how George Floyd died while being arrested.
Ray J, Kid Rock, and Kanye West attended the premiere for Candace Owens’ Black Lives Matter documentary. This is a real sentence. pic.twitter.com/xXXhyu5LFL
— Pogi Bryant (@JollibeePapi) October 13, 2022
Ye agrees with Candace that Floyd allegedly, in their view, died from an overdose, which was disproven in a court of law when the officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck was found guilty of manslaughter. The Floyd family is now planning on allegedly suing Ye over his statements, and the public outrage is tenfold. Candace is now allegedly threatening to sue the Floyd family. It just keeps getting worse.
And George Floyd’s family should sue Kanye JUST like those Parkland families sued Alex Jones https://t.co/E5JLI56v1M
— HEATEDHU$TLA.🔥👑 (@_AllEyezOnZee) October 16, 2022
While Ye has hinted at running for President again after his lackluster campaign in 2020, which resulted in his name being added to the ballot but not making it to the White House, he has not made any formal statement outside of saying he can’t discuss 2024 when he was seen on Drink Champs. He is donning a black cap with the year 2024 and was slow to respond to the idea of being Trump’s VP when the scenario was prompted by the host. Nothing’s changed on that front. Ye was critical of Jared Kushner on the same podcast and even mentioned that while he owns 5% of Kardashian’s Skims brand, Jared Kushner owns 10%. The things you need to know.
Shoe brand Skechers reported that Ye was seen at their California headquarters unannounced a day after he lost the Adidas deal, and he had a camera crew in tow. They stated he was instantly escorted off the property.
We aren’t sure what Ye’s next move is as brands continue to speak out on his choice of words, and he has lost his billionaire status with the Adidas partnership crumbling, with them standing to lose an estimated $650 million. The narrative online is that many have lost the desire to work with him even though he is estimated to still be worth $400 million dollars. Only time will tell if he makes more formal apologies or attempts to maintain business as usual, but with whom?
