D.skyrocketing. It is now declared storm for Kanye West: the multifaceted rapper, ex-husband of Kim Kardashianalso known as “Ye”, is downloaded from several places: adidas, Balenciaga, not to mention its relations with the trade press. The main reason for the ongoing brawl is his unbridled statements, including some anti-Semitic comments.
One of Kanye West’s latest appearances, last October 21, 2022 in Los Angeles (Photo: Rachpoot / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images).
But let’s be clear: what has happened so far?
The triggering fact
He did not go down to the fashion system and public opinion, first of all, it show concocted by Ye in closing PFW. In fact, the rapper staged a surprise show for his ninth signed collection Yeezywhere T-shirts marked by the slogan paraded White Lives Matter. A reference to Black lives matter, coined in 2020 in the aftermath of the murder of African American George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis. According to theAnti-Defamation Leaguean NGO that fights anti-Semitism, is in effect a white supremacist phrase, born in early 2015 as a racist response to the movement.
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The offending t-shirt has the profile of Pope John Paul II printed on the front; and in addition to one of the (black) models, it was worn by Ye himself, who had himself photographed with right-wing politics Candace Owens in look matchy matchy.
The bullying of the black stylist
In addition to the t-shirt, an initial monologue against the current status quo of fashion attracted more by scandals than by design, even if it was the post-show diatribe that inflamed the spirits against Ye: among those who contested the show, the fashion editor and color stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnsoncollaborator among others of Vogue America. Against which West went wild on Instagram, commenting on her look in inelegant terms: “this is not a fashion person” and “I know Anna hates these boots” (referring to the director Anna Wintour).
A behavior that earned him the criticism of “bully and ridicule”, among others, even by Gigi Hadid.
Faced with the violent public backlash on the show, Ye has attacked virtually everyone on his IG profile, from the late Virgil Abloh to Tremaine Emorynew creative director of Supremeup to the luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault, clearly appearing out of control. After being suspended by Instagram and Twitter for violating the platforms’ policies on hate speech, Ye said he agreed to buy the right-wing social media platform I will speak.
The dispute with Balenciaga
At the last Paris fashion week, Kanye West opened the show Mud Spring-Summer 2023 by Balenciaga in a combative look, as a guest of honor. Called by the designer Demna to “arms”, the appearance on the catwalk was just the latest of several collaborations between the brand and the manufacturer: just think of the line Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga, which launched in February 2022 in tandem with the performance Donda 2 by Ye Miami, which also featured Kim Kardashian, who has always been the face of the fashion house.
Following the events in Paris, the Kering group released a note stating that “there are no professional relationships between the brand and the artist neither now nor in the future“. The runway image of Ye in action has been removed from the Balenciaga website.
Ye in action on the Balenciaga SS23 catwalk (Photo: Imaxtree).
Anna Wintour and Gap
In addition to the Vogue Runway. According to some rumors collected by Page Sixalso Anna Wintour seems to be on the verge of closing the doors of Vogue to the artist, despite the support given to his collections over the years. Among others who have quarreled with Ye: in September 2022 the rapper terminated his collaboration with Gap Inc. by rescinding the agreement eight years earlier than the millionaire contract signed in May 2020. The reason, the different views on the distribution and production of the collection Yeezy Gap.
Relationships hanging in the balance with adidas
And now he seems to be on the verge of shattering his ten-year relationship with, too adidas. The German sportswear company said on October 6 that its partnership with the Yeezy brand was “under review”, but in these hours human rights activists denounced its silence in the face of the rapper’s comments.
“Your silence is a danger to Jews,” tweeted Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League.
“We cannot allow Ye’s anti-Semitism to spread: we must all ask Adidas to condemn his racist rhetoric by re-evaluating their partnership.” Will the brand accept the request?
The defense of Ye
Meanwhile, The rapper is back in defend his point of view on the latest events concerning him in ainterview with Pierce Morgan during the program Piers Morgan Uncensoredunderlining the fact that the controversy towards him they are entirely instrumental. In short, Ye rejects the idea of being censored for his ideas of him and for this reason he intends to continue to validate his reasons, also for legal avenues: it would seem in fact that he contacted him Camilla Vasquez law firmthe attorney who defended Johnny Depp in his lawsuit against Amber Heard.
To understand more what Ye thinks, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016, just go back to September and reread the statements made to Bloomberg. “It’s time he did it all by himself. I made the companies money and they made it to me. We have created ideas that will change clothing forever, such as the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides. Now is the time for Ye to create a new industry. There will be no more companies that will come between me and the public ». Filters, goodbye: and now it is not up to everyone to judge who Ye really is.