Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is quickly losing support from the brands that once endorsed him. At first, it was Balenciaga and Gap who dropped him in the aftermath of his anti-semitic tweet. Today, Adidas, JP Morgan Chase, Def Jam and TJ Maxx among others have joined the club. Talent agencies Creative Artists Agency and United Talents Agency have stepped back from representing him. Law firm Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich severed their relations too.
Due to his conflict with Vogue’s global contributing fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, the magazine openly criticized his behaviour as well. Even Madame Tussauds London has reportedly banished his wax figure to the archive and will no longer allow tourists to take photos with it. Further, film studio MRC is set to shelve the documentary they made on him.
The whole thing has spiralled into a meme format, with humoured netizens jumping at the opportunity to claim that any and every organisation has “cut ties with Kanye West”.
Maganlal Chikki has cut all ties with Kanye West after his recent antisemitic remarks pic.twitter.com/uKuCEmlozE
— gordon (@gordonramashray) October 27, 2022
Even Ye briefly took a jab at himself on Instagram, before deleting the post.
Ye has cut ties with Kanye West. pic.twitter.com/MwA8kRDkkZ
— RH (@RiHar_) October 27, 2022
Ye’s antisemitic comments along with the ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirts he displayed at his YZY show at Paris Fashion Week triggered a domino effect that has resulted in the termination of his several endorsements. His fall from grace over the past three weeks has cost him over $1 billion. This is unsurprising considering that after Gap, Footlocker and eventually collectors removed Yeezy merchandise from shelves, the secondhand Yeezys market dropped by 30%. Adidas cutting ties with Ye’s brand served as a major blow, wiping out $1.5 billion off his net worth.
With partnerships slipping quickly from his hands and no new brands willing to work with him, Ye seems to have tempted providence a little too far. But it cannot stop here. This backlash and deplatformatisation will succeed only if it forces him to seek help, otherwise it will be for naught.
