The artist formally known as Kanye is having a tough week, after being dropped by Adidas in the wake of controversial comments. Shockingly, another shoe company made matters worse for the rapper.
Sketchers shoe company said Kanye West, the rapper and fashion-brand owner who goes by Ye, was escorted from one of its California corporate offices after visiting unannounced and engaging in unauthorized filming there.
The footwear maker said Wednesday that two company executives escorted Mr. West and his party from the building in Los Angeles after a brief conversation. The company didn’t elaborate further on the nature of the conversation.
“Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West,” the company said. “We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”
Mr. West didn’t respond to requests for comment. On his Instagram account early Thursday he quipped about his name change and responded to critics, including Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. EDR 2.60%increase; green up pointing triangle Chief Executive Ari Emanuel, who called for companies to no longer do business with him.
“I lost $2 billion in one day and I’m still alive,” the post said. “This is love speech. I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people is who I am.”
The Skechers announcement comes as companies, including Adidas AG and Gap Inc., have distanced themselves from the artist in the wake of his erratic behavior and anti-Semitic comments in recent weeks.
Earlier this month Mr. West sent a tweet that read in part that he planned to go “death con [sic] 3 on Jewish people.” Twitter and Instagram previously locked his accounts following statements he made on their platforms. In the weeks since, he has espoused conspiracy theories and expressed anti-Jewish sentiment in several interviews.
Adidas executives have described the yearslong partnership between Mr. West and the company as one of the most successful collaborations in the sneaker industry. In the arrangement, Mr. West provided the Yeezy brand name to Adidas in return for royalties of about 15% of the sales of Yeezy products, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Adidas designed and manufactured the products, and also owned the designs.
Mr. West has previously traveled with a film crew to document his life. Earlier this month a video was posted on his YouTube channel, with footage that included conversations about his Adidas partnership. This past summer, he posted a video on Instagram talking to Gap executives about his frustrations on the now-dissolved partnership with the retail chain.
MRC, a film and television studio, this week said it was shelving a completed documentary about Mr. West’s life after talks with its filmmakers and distribution partners.
Mr. West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and members of her family had a yearslong partnership with Skechers. She appeared in the company’s televised advertisements, including one aired during the National Football League’s 2011 Super Bowl.
Skechers was my favorite brand. Go woke, go broke.
I applaud any company that will never partner with a person that ranks and raves lies about any religion persons of color other then their own
Lies? C’mon man!
Ye sounds stoned…