I’m sure we have all seen the recent controversy surrounding the behavior of the very famous Kanye West, who now legally goes by the name of “Ye”. His contentious comments on various social media platforms (more specifically Twitter and Instagram) have been widely looked down upon in recent weeks. He has made many antisemitic remarks, as well as used other forms of hate speech–leading to some serious punishments for the popular rapper. 

It is known that Ye was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016, and he has talked about having manic episodes upon his diagnosis. While this may be a determining factor in his behavior, it most certainly provides no explanation for the unruly behavior he has publicly displayed recently.

This all began when Ye showed a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt design at Paris Fashion Week on October 3rd, 2022. The design caused an immediate uproar amongst people from all over the world. In an interview by Tucker Carlson, he stated that he “…thought the shirt was a funny shirt…” and “…thought the idea of [him] wearing it was funny.” When asked about the reactions that have been displayed as a result of his actions, he said, “I don’t care about people’s reactions.” Many famous figures, such as Gigi Hadid and Jaden Smith, have contributed to the backlash of Ye’s actions via social media. 

Upon this situation, many brands immediately began questioning their sponsorship of the rapper. Large corporations such as Adidas, the German athleticwear company, were alarmed at Ye’s actions, but they still chose to only put their partnership with him “under review.”

Days after this mishap, Ye made more cynical and hateful comments–but this time towards the Jewish community. The rapper claimed he was “going DEFCON 3 on Jewish people,” including also that he “can’t be anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew also.” His Instagram and Twitter accounts were temporarily locked because of these comments amongst others. His string of antisemitic marks alarmed many people, and many people condemned him for his actions.

One important figure, Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian, has voiced her opinion by saying on Twitter: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”

Many brands have now terminated their longstanding partnership with the rapper. On October 23rd, Kanye stated in a video that he “can be anti-Semitic and Adidas won’t drop [him].” As of now, Adidas has completely cut ties with Ye, making an extreme dent in his net worth. According to Forbes, Ye is worth approximately $400 million without Adidas. While this isn’t exactly a small number, it’s definitely a huge drop from the $1.5 billion he was estimated to be worth before. Balenciaga and Gap are also part of the many corporations that have decided to drop products under the Yeezy label. On October 21st, Balenciaga announced that they were fully cutting ties with the popular rapper. 

“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” said a spokesperson to Women’s Daily. 

Adding to multiple brands and companies dropping Ye, it has also been reported that his newly opened Donda Academy in California will be closed for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year. 

Ye’s heinous actions have earned him these consequences, and his anti-semitic words have proved to be the final straw for most brands and companies.