Kanye is no longer essential
After been given the boot by Adidas and escorted out of Skechers, Kanye West‘s music is now getting silenced, with Apple Music removing the rapper’s Essentials Playlist.
In what has been a remarkable few days – that has seen West’s net worth plummet from billions to a reported $400m – the Adidas deal seems to have set in motion the fall of the final dominos in the Donda rapper’s empire. His music.
Apple, MailOnline reports, appears to be severing ties with the rapper, now known as Ye, following his antisemitic rants.
Spotify, however, are yet to move on Ye, with its CEO, Daniel Ek, telling Reuters earlier this week that despite the 45-year-old making “awful” comments, he has not violated the platforms anti-hate policies.
Apple Music’s main rival said it would be down to to Ye’s label, Universal Music Group’s Def Jam, to pull his catalog.
Ek said: “It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy. It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.”
Def Jam’s partnership with Ye’s GOOD Music label ended in 2021, Universal Music Group has said.
On Wednesday, a day after Adidas dropped Ye, he turned up at Skechers LA office “unannounced and without invitation” and was escorted from the premises.
In a statement, the company said two Skechers executives “escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation”.
Skechers made clear in its statement that the company “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. The Company would like to again stress that West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices,” the statement concluded.
On Tuesday, Foot Locker and Gap said they would immediately remove products from Ye’s Yeezy line from their stores, saying they do not tolerate antisemitism.
In a statement GAP said: “Anti-Semitism, 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 organisations that combat hate and discrimination.”
Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) also now dropped Ye, and Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez ditched him as a client.
Last week, the French multinational corporation specialising in luxury goods, Kering, officially announced that Balenciaga had split ways with Ye stating, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”
Madame Tussauds has also removed Ye’s wax work from public view.
Adidas terminated its deal with Ye “with immediate effect” saying the company does not “tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech”.
It said Ye’s recent actions had been “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.
Related links:
- Kanye West kicked out of Skechers office day after Adidas ditched him
- Adidas terminates deal with Kanye West
- Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez drops Kanye West as a client
- Rapper Kanye West says filmmaker Quentin Tarantino stole Django Unchained idea from him
- Kanye West ‘walks out’ of Piers Morgan interview as chat gets heated
- George Floyd’s family considering suing Kanye West for conspiracy theory comments
