Kanye West, the billionaire rapper, and fashion designer has made several anti-Semitic remarks in the last month, and several brands have cut ties with him as a result.
His tweets, which included the phrase “death con 3 on Jewish people,” resulted in the suspension of his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Last weekend, a small band of anti-Semitic demonstrators in Los Angeles were seen carrying signs that read, “Kanye West was right about the Jews.”
Balenciaga, the luxury fashion house, became the first major corporation to part ways with the artist in the midst of the controversy. The company stated that they no longer have any relationship with this artist nor any plans for any future projects involving him.
Adidas, which is liable for a significant portion of West’s fortune, announced a few weeks ago that it was evaluating its relationship with the artist.
Following calls for the German sportswear company to end its relationship with the rapper, as well as scrutiny from the Anti-Defamation League, the company announced the end of its relationship with West.
After showing up to Skecher’s office assuming they would take his business, West was escorted out of the office as he was said to have arrived “unannounced and uninvited.”
Skechers went on to say that it has “no intention” of working with the 45-year-old and that he has made “recent divisive remarks.”
It is not just him who is being escorted out and canceled, it is also his music.
Kanye West’s Essentials Playlist appeared to be removed from Apple Music, which is a big step for a music platform to take. Progressive.
On Monday, world-renowned exercise trainer Alex Toussaint informed Peloton members that Ye’s music would no longer be used in his classes. On Tuesday, the platform itself announced that it had “indefinitely paused” the use of his music in workouts.
And just when Kanye thought that the worst may be over, AFC Bournemouth dropped the cherry on the cake.
In an announcement last night, the club stated that none of Ye’s music would be played in the stadium again.
Fans who were unaware of these “ties” that the club and West shared, were taken aback by this announcement.
However, as random as it sounds, the announcement does have merit.
Ye’s song “Power” was played almost every time at the Vitality Stadium as the Cherries walked out on the pitch.
Despite it being a great song, they decided to drop it, and an explanation was warranted. They cited the same reasons as the other companies – the anti-Semitic remarks.
As warranted as it might be, it is still hilarious to think that in the midst of the biggest brands in the world is AFC Bournemouth.
Texas A&M, a college American Football team, followed AFC Bournemouth’s lead in dropping Power as their pre-game song, according to American news outlet TMZ.
Texas A&M has followed in Bournemouth's footsteps … it, too, will stop playing "Power" as its pregame warmup song. https://t.co/wN7a8MXIFw
Kanye’s fans rushed to his defense by arguing that the rapper is bigger than AFC Bournemouth, and while that may be true, that is hardly the point the English club is trying to make.
This decision is not one that Bournemouth have taken to spite Kanye, rather, it is a justified decision to keep themselves away from any controversy that might follow Kanye.
It is a self-defense tactic, much like the ones used by Peloton, who did not have direct ties with him but did not want to be associated either.
He has had episodes of controversy before, which have been overlooked because of him dropping generation-defining music right after them. But this might be bigger than anything he has faced before.
He has lost, according to his words, over 2 billion dollars in the last few days. The Adidas-Yeezy deal alone could have made him half of that.
Bournemouth are not going to crack a dent into this historic loss, but they are surely going to save the Texas A&M example. We don’t know what Kanye can do to repair his image or his net worth this time, but his next steps could define his career and his legacy.
