Inside Kanye West's awful, terrible, incredibly bad week: Every company that’s dropped Ye in the wake of his shocking, offensive comments

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Ye = Yanked. On the heels of Kanye West’s stunning antisemitic tweets, corporate America is reacting, and it’s not good for the rapper and designer. In early October, Ye tweeted that he was going “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” A few days later, he said he was “happy to have crossed the line.” After that, Ye admitted to Piers Morgan that his words were knowingly racist but said he had no regrets and wasn’t sorry. Many companies are cutting ties with Kanye and jumping ship as fast as they can. It’s fair to say that Kanye West’s world is going south.

Click through to see who is parting ways with Ye…

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Undoubtedly the biggest company to end its partnership with Kanye West in light of his racist words was Adidas, which accounted for a huge part of Ye’s wealth. On Oct. 25, the company said it “will terminate the partnership with Ye, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.” Adidas’s decision has a massive financial impact on both the company and the rapper-designer. TMZ reported that the corporation is expecting to lose $246 million in net income in 2022 by ending the Yeezy deal. Ye, Forbes reported, has also lost his billionaire status. Several years ago, the “Through The Wire” rapper’s net worth was valued at around $1.3 billion. With the Adidas deal getting nixed, Forbes now values Ye at around $400 million. 

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On Oct. 26, TJX Companies — operators of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods — announced it would no longer carry Yeezy products. “At TJX we do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or hate of any kind. We have instructed our buying teams not to purchase this merchandise for sale in any of our stores globally,” the company said in a statement to CNNBusiness.

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Balenciaga has been one of Kanye West’s favorite brands for years — he even wore a Balenciaga mouthpiece days before his antisemitic comments scandal exploded. The luxury brand, though, isn’t down with Ye anymore. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” the French fashion house’s parent company told Women’s Wear Daily on Oct. 21. The fact that Balenciaga didn’t even want to reference Ye’s name is dramatic given their history. The company released two Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collections in 2022 and Kanye walked the runway during Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show in early October 2022.

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On Oct. 25, Foot Locker announced it was pulling all Yeezy products from its shelves. “We will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites,” the shoe giant said in a statement.

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Kanye West is no longer on the CAA roster. The high-powered talent agency dropped Ye on Oct. 24 after condemning his comments. “Regrettably, antisemitism, racism and many forms of hate and intolerance are part of the fabric of society. Generally, they live as a plague eroding the health of communities and are combatted by understanding, tolerance and the general goodness of most people,” UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer said in a company statement obtained by Variety. “But throughout history some have used their public platform to spew the plague out loud and spread the contagion to dangerous effect. Kanye is the latest to do so, and we’re seeing how his words embolden others to amplify their vile beliefs. I’ve also seen copies of horribly antisemitic flyers left this weekend on the doorsteps of homes in LA neighborhoods, showing that the 405 banners are not the end of it.”

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Companies not linked to Kanye West want nothing to do with him. After his Adidas deal went kaput, the rapper showed up unannounced to Skechers headquarters in hopes of inking a new deal for his shoes. Skechers gave him the stiff arm. The shoe company told TMZ on Oct. 26 that Kanye “arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles. Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation.” A spokesman for Skechers, which is owned and operated by a Jewish family, said, “Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West. We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”

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A film and TV studio has shelved Ye’s finished documentary following his antisemitic words. “This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West. We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform,” MRC Entertainment said in an Oct. 24 statement. “Kanye is a producer and sampler of music. Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3,000 years — the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain.” MRC added, “The silence from leaders and corporations when it comes to Kanye or antisemitism in general is dismaying but not surprising. What is new and sad, is the fear Jews have about speaking out in their own defense.”

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Kanye West’s Donda Sports took a big hit on Oct. 25 after superstars Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown announced they were cutting ties in the wake of Ye’s admittedly racist language. The NFL and NBA studs were the only athletes on the Donda Sports roster, leaving Ye with no one to represent in the sports world. “The recent comments and displays of hate and anti-Semitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family,” the Los Angeles Rams Pro Bowler said in a statement. In his own statement, the Boston Celtics All-Star said, “I have always, and will always, continue to stand strongly against anti-Semitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind. In light of that, after sharing in conversations, I now recognize that there are times when my voice and my position can’t coexist in spaces that don’t correspond with my stance or my values. And for that, I am terminating my association with Donda Sports.”

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Kanye West’s words are having an affect on his Donda Academy basketball team. The squad was booted from one of high school basketball’s biggest stages in light of Ye’s words. Per TMZ, the Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics announced that Donda has been scrapped from this season’s schedule because Ye’s “words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events — a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity and mutual respect.” The Donda team has several high-profile college recruits including one who’s committed to perennial blue blood Kentucky. “While we are firm in our reasoning for this decision, it does not diminish our heartache and regret for Donda’s hardworking athletes who will lose out the most as a result of Kanye’s actions,” the tournament’s statement said. “Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events.”

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There’s one less teacher at Kanye West’s Donda Academy. The Hollywood Reporter reported that an educational consultant for Ye’s unaccredited K-8 private Christian school — who holds a prominent position at two Jewish educational institutions — resigned after the rapper made antisemitic statements. Tamar Andrews, who is also the director of early childhood education at both Temple Isaiah and American Jewish University, began working at Donda in July 2022. Allison Samek, president of Temple Isaiah of Los Angeles, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement: “Dr. Andrews immediately resigned from Donda Academy following Ye West’s tweet. Her last day was October 11, 2022 as she felt she could no longer support the organization.”

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Ye is now in the market for new lawyers. The Washington Post reported that the firm representing him in his divorce from Kim Kardashian — Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich — has cut ties. “I can confirm we are no longer representing Ye,” attorney Robert Stephan Cohen wrote to The Post on Oct. 25. Further, Ye’s working relationship with Camille Vasquez, who famously defended Johnny Depp in his defamation trial, is over, TMZ reported. Ye hired Camille’s firm, Brown Rudnick, to represent him in his business interests. However, the firm said it would only work with Ye if he publicly retracted his hateful words. Ye refused to do so and, just three days after hiring the legal team, he fired the firm on Oct. 24. Prior to their parting, Camille informed her firm that she would no longer work with Kanye, TMZ reported. 

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Fitness giant Peloton is striking Kanye West’s music from all upcoming classes. “We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton indefinitely paused the use of Kanye West’s music on our platform,” the subscription-based company said on Oct. 26. “This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes and we are not suggesting any class that includes his music in our proactive recommendations to Members. You should know this was a decision we made immediately following his remarks.” According to Peloton fan site Pelo Buddy, Ye’s music appears in more than 1,800 classes within the fitness company’s deep on-demand library. 

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Even before Kanye West made antisemitic comments, GAP had had enough (in fairness, Ye wasn’t feeling the love from GAP either). In mid-September, both Ye and the retailer announced that they were ending a 10-year partnership, signed in 2020, just two years into the deal. Ye accused GAP of  “substantial noncompliance.” The company initially said existing Yeezy merchandise would still be sold in its stores and YeezyGap.com would remain up. After Ye made racist comments, GAP had a change of heart. “Our former partner’s recent remarks and behavior further underscore why we are taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap product from our stores,” the retailer said in a statement on Oct. 25. “Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values. On behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders, we are partnering with organizations that combat hate and discrimination.”

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Anna Wintour, the famed editor-in-chief of fashion bible Vogue, is ending her personal and business relationships with Kanye West following his antisemitic remarks. A Vogue spokesperson told Page Six on Oct. 21 that Ye’s racist language coupled with the unveiling of his promotion of “White Lives Matter” T-shirts during Paris Fashion Week in early October 2022 were the last straw. 

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Kanye West isn’t taking “Shop” after all. On Oct. 10, the rapper-designer sat down for an episode of LeBron James’s “The Shop.” However, the episode never saw the light of day because of Ye’s comments. Maverick Carter, who produces the YouTube show, told TMZ, “Kanye was booked weeks ago and, after talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used ‘The Shop’ to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.” After discussion, LeBron and Maverick decided to scrap the whole episode rather than edit it. 

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JPMorgan Chase Bank was among the first to cut ties with Kanye West. The financial institution sent Ye a letter on Sept. 20 to indicate their relationship was ending — that was weeks before he made antisemitic remarks or wore his controversial “White Lives Matter” shirt.

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