Where Kanye West’s brand deals stand amid anti-Semitism, ‘WLM’ controversies
Will any brands still work with Kanye West?
The rapper, 45, invited a whirlwind of controversy with his Yeezy Season 9 show at Paris Fashion Week in early October 2022, which featured T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter.”
Since the backlash began — from fellow celebrities, fans, fashion critics and more — West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, has doubled down on his political statements, not only defending the designs and their message, but also spewing anti-Semitic comments.
In addition to getting locked out of various social media accounts for violating platform rules in recent days, West’s also thrown his many brand deals into jeopardy with his behavior. Below, a rundown of where he stands with Gap, Adidas, Balenciaga and others.
Adidas
Though West’s relationship with Adidas has been up and down due to his apparent frustrations with the retailer, it wasn’t until October 2022 — after the “White Lives Matter” firestorm — that the company announced that its partnership with the star was “under review.”
After much pressure from celebrities and the general public, Adidas announced on Oct. 25 that it had ended its relationship with the West.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the athletic giant said in a statement. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
The “All of the Lights” rapper had voiced a number of complaints about the collaboration in the months prior, claiming Adidas delayed production on his Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collection, made design and hiring decisions without his input, launched Yeezy Day without his blessing and more.
West also released a bizarre video from a meeting with Adidas execs, during which he forced them to watch a pornographic video — the plot of which was apparently meant to serve as a metaphor for the “nightmare” the company put him through.
The musician’s Adidas contract began in 2013 and was intended to last through 2026, with the brand handling manufacturing and distribution for West’s Yeezy brand.
Vogue
Anna Wintour has had it.
On Oct. 21, Page Six exclusively reported that the fashion queen and Vogue have “no intention” of working with West again.
“Anna has had enough,” an insider told us, adding, “She has made it very clear inside Vogue that Kanye is no longer part of the inner circle.”
She had long been a supporter of West’s, inviting him to the Met Gala in 2009 — four years before he would bring then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian as his date (she didn’t score her very own invite until 2014).
Wintour had also attended nearly every Yeezy presentation, often sitting next to the Kardashians in the front row. She even modeled the newest YZY sunglasses in an official campaign last month.
Tensions between West and the fashion bible began shortly after his Yeezy Season 9 show on Oct. 3; after Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson voiced her vehement disapproval with the “White Lives Matter” T-shirts shown during the presentation, calling them “deeply offensive, violent and dangerous,” West mocked the stylist on social media.
Celebrities including Gigi Hadid jumped to Karefa-Johnson’s defense, and Vogue issued a statement in her support, condemning West’s “unacceptable” behavior and revealing that the rapper and Karefa-Johnson had scheduled a “private meeting” to discuss the matter further.
According to West — who called Karefa-Johnson his “sister” after the sit-down — the duo’s chat was filmed by famed director Baz Luhrmann.
“WE APOLOGIZED TO EACH OTHER FOR THE WAY WE MADE EACH OTHER FEEL,” the Yeezy designer wrote in an all-caps Instagram post after their discussion. “SHE DISAGREED I DISAGREED WE DISAGREED.”
Balenciaga
Ye has worked closely with Balenciaga creative director Demna for years, collaborating with the designer on looks for his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and even making his runway debut for the luxury label at Paris Fashion Week in October 2022, opening the spring 2023 show in tactical gear and a branded mouthguard.
On Oct. 21, the brand announced it had severed ties with the star. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” parent company Kering told WWD.
The news was perhaps signaled in the days prior, as Vogue deleted West’s photo from its coverage of the Balenciaga show; the brand removed a pic of West on the runway from its own website as well.
As for the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collaborations, a select few pieces are still available to shop on the Yeezy Gap site, but the entire collection has been removed from Farfetch.
Gap
West was the one who pulled the plug on his 10-year deal with Gap in September 2022 (well ahead of his inflammatory Yeezy runway show), but the feelings may have been mutual. In a letter sent to the retail giant, the star’s legal team alleged that Gap didn’t deliver on promises to release certain styles and open dedicated Yeezy Gap stores as planned, leaving them with “no choice but to terminate their collaboration.”
In an internal email to Gap employees obtained by Page Six Style, Gap Brands President & CEO Mark Breitbard confirmed the partnership was kaput.
“While we share a vision of bringing high-quality, trend-forward, utilitarian design to all people through unique omni experiences with Yeezy Gap, how we work together to deliver this vision is not aligned. And we are deciding to wind down the partnership,” he wrote, before stating that the company did uphold its promises.
JP Morgan
Conservative commentator Candace Owens — who attended West’s fashion show wearing one of his “White Lives Matter” shirts and has been a staunch supporter of the rapper’s as of late — claimed via Twitter that JP Morgan sent Ye an official letter of termination “with no official reason given.”
“I was told there was no official reason given, but they sent this letter as well to confirm that he has until late November to find another place for the Yeezy empire to bank,” she said, sharing a photo of the notice without clarifying when it was sent.
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