“I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me,” the artist formerly known as Kanye West announced on Drink Champs just over a week ago. “And now?” he asked rhetorically, and with the mocking audacity of a man whose millions of dollars, millions of fans, and considerable high-profile connections have carried him through numerous instances of public backlash over the past 20 years. But that day is over.
Hip hop through the ages
Now Adidas has dumped him after a month of repeatedly claiming he was dealing with a Jewish cabal that controls the world. His Yeezy partnership with Adidas was at the core of his reported $2 billion net worth; without that deal, his billionaire status has reportedly been “wiped out.” Kanye’s musical and entrepreneurial endeavors have always been driven by bringing a barrier, imaginary or real, to the fore in order to overcome it. This trait was endearing until his crosshairs veered from those who questioned his musical abilities to blacks who criticized his MAGA contacts, and now to Jewish people. His recent anti-Semitic statements, following a long period of ever-escalating hunt for the next spectacle, have finally radioactively contaminated him for his influential allies.
Kanye West is being dumped by his advertising partners
Adidas joins a long list of influential brands including JP Morgan Chase, CAA, Balenciaga and Vogue that have severed ties with Ye in the past month. MRC has shelved a documentary about him that had already been made. Ari Emanuel, CEO of William Morris Endeavor, wrote an opinion piece urging companies to stop working with Ye. UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer urged his partners to support the boycott of Kanye West “as powerful voices spreading hate have often driven people to hateful acts.”
The latest controversy began with the backlash over the “White Lives Matter” t-shirts Kanye West wore alongside conservative publicist Candace Owens to his Yeezy Season 9 runway show earlier this month. His friend Diddy initially defended him publicly, telling The Breakfast Club that what he means is often misunderstood. Privately, the Bad Boy founder reached out to Ye for advice – but Ye brushed him off, posting her texts on Instagram and warning: “Don’t ever call me nonsense like that again unless you are ready to give me the green light because everyone that says on this t-shirt is me.”
Ye then clashed on social media with Supreme’s creative director Tremaine Emory, Boosie and Meek Mill, all of whom criticized the t-shirt and berated Ye for various reasons. The whole incident initially seemed like yet another example of Yes’s personal mental health issues and/or his longstanding habit of seeking headlines to promote his latest project.
But then Kanye theorized that the people who came out against him weren’t just angry at his anti-blackness, but that they were agents “sent by Jewish people.” On October 9, he tweeted that he plans to “go def con 3 towards Jewish people” and accused Jewish people of “starting the cancel culture.” He added, “The funny thing is that I can’t be anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jews too.” He then added, “You guys played with me and tried to smear anyone who opposes your agenda.”
Kanye West and George Floyd
His Twitter and Instagram accounts were immediately suspended. A few days later, he gave a now-deleted interview on NORE’s “Drink Champs” podcast, in which he falsely claimed that former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee “didn’t even give up like that [George Floyds] neck,” and continued his attacks on the so-called “Jewish media.” The interview was removed after backlash (and the late George Floyd’s family plans to file a $250 million lawsuit against Ye) – but further conversations with Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan soon followed, in which Ye maintained the same hateful tenor . He told Morgan he was “sorry for the people I hurt with the ‘Def Con'” tweet, but never explicitly retracted anything he said about his plans to “#MeToo the Jewish culture said.
Ye’s views seem to align with those of the most extreme black Hebrew Israelite sects who believe they are the original descendants of the ancient Israelites, or the “true Jews.” These groups are known for their stubborn conservatism and relentless championing of their belief that white Jews are the “children of Satan.” Kodak Black is a self-confessed Hebrew Israelite, and Kendrick Lamar has referenced this mindset in his music, though neither rapper has expressed a belief that Jewish people are inherently evil or rule the world.
But Ye isn’t the only entertainer to have expressed outright anti-Semitism in recent years. In 2021, Nick Cannon apologized on his podcast for claiming that “Jewish people, white people, Europeans” have a “weakness” that makes them “savages.” Ice Cube also attracted attention several times with anti-Semitic statements. In 1992 he rapped “They said I could sing like a jaybird/But nigga, don’t say the J-word” after previous lyrics about Jewish people drew criticism, and in 2020 he tweeted various anti-Semitic memes. Ye told Drink Champs that Ice Cube inspired his “anti-Semitism vibe,” but Ice Cube distanced himself from the suggestion, tweeting, “I’m not anti-Semitic and never have been.”
Why is Kanye West going all out with his anti-Semitism?
Artists who have been ostracized for making anti-Semitic remarks have typically apologized after being pilloried, but Ye adamantly refuses to back down. He repeatedly stated that he was willing to die for his beliefs. Those who have so far attributed his controversial remarks to his mental health issues cannot fail to see how clearly and calmly he has expressed his hate speech in several interviews dating back several years. Former TMZ contributor Van Lathan has claimed that Ye said something along the lines of “I love Hitler” during his infamous “You Had a Choice About Being a Slave” interview in 2018, but that it’s “over whatever the reason” didn’t make it into the final clip.
Besides his alleged support for Hitler (which Kanye hasn’t denied), another aspect TMZ has swept under the rug is its belittling of 400 years of American slavery. Maybe that wasn’t offensive enough in a world that’s settled into anti-Blackness. Many black people were angered by his comments, but our mere outrage wasn’t enough to knock him off his pedestal. Too many of us thought Ye’s MAGA rhetoric was right; too few were willing to organize and harm it with a mass boycott.
Many entertainers, entrepreneurs and athletes from the so-called black elite have sided with him. Not only did they not publicly denounce him in 2018, but they have worked with him ever since and, in the case of Revolt, provided him with a platform to spread damaging ideas. His fans continue to buy Yeezy clothes, attend his Sunday services, and stream his Donda listening sessions to record-breaking effect. His corporate ties and cultural influence made him too powerful to be held accountable for stepping on black people. As much as this story shows one man’s endless self-sabotage, it also shows how little weight the grievances of black people seem to carry in this country.
With Kanye West’s ideological course, his net worth inevitably declines as well
Before Adidas dumped him, Ye proudly claimed he was the richest black man in the world. Even if you were to believe that, keep in mind that net worth is just a loose estimate of a portfolio’s value. As Ye alienates itself from the world’s biggest brands and alienates the public, its companies will have less value, and that estimate will continue to fall. If he refuses to apologize for his comments, many tour promoters, management companies, fashion retailers and media outlets will likely find it even more difficult to work with him.
The CEO who wants to support him would have to worry about the impact on partners who might pull away from him. The rapper claims he has the funds to take his own company public, and that’s exactly what he may need to do after this divestment wave.
Last weekend, Axios published a column that said, “America stands on the brink of the first truly parallel universe in the presidential campaign — where the parties speak to different constituencies, in different media ecosystems, pushing different realities.” This country has long been ideologically closed, and this dynamic is increasingly manifest in conservative media and social media platforms like Parler, which Ye recently bought. He has about 40,000 followers on the platform, which is a far cry from his 31.5 million followers on Twitter, but he can rest assured that Parler is his soapbox and he can tell his base whatever he wants without repercussions Has. This outlaw existence could be the new normal for Ye after this month.
The musician is so caught up in his own mind that he’s essentially decided to swap his role as an artist to be a beacon of hatred for a small minority of conservatives who need black people as lapdogs for their beliefs. He’s also getting applause for it from Nazis like those in LA who said last weekend he was “right” about what he’s saying. It is questionable whether these people would have an interest in buying his clothes, listening to his music or attending his concerts in the foreseeable future. But these Nazis want to kill Jewish people, and his recent comments have helped push their hateful view closer to the mainstream. In 2010, Ye rhymed, “No man should have all that power,” and he’s spent the next decade proving it. Now his self-sabotage has limited much of that power.
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