Balenciaga Cuts Ties With Kanye ‘Ye’ West Following Backlash to Anti-Semitic Comments

Harper Lambert
·3-min read

Balenciaga became the latest brand to end its relationship with Kanye “Ye” West over the artist’s recent anti-Semitic tirades.

“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” the French fashion house’s parent company Kering told WWD in an interview Friday. TheWrap has reached out to Kering for further comment.

On Friday night, Ye addressed the backlash to his latest controversies at a makeshift press conference held after his daughter North West’s basketball game.

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“I think people just try to score points,” he said of those who have distanced themselves from the artist. Per TMZ, Ye was unbothered by the Balenciaga breakup because the company wasn’t paying him.

He doubled down on his defense that the backlash to his anti-Semitic rants “actually [proves] the exact point that I made. So many actors been bullied behind the scenes,” he said on Friday.

“So you got Ari Emanuel asking people to not do business with me,” he continued, referencing the Endeavor CEO’s call for brands to stop working with him. “That’s how this town been running for so so long. They’ll mute you at all costs.”

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Last month, Ye canceled the 10-year deal he had signed with Gap Inc. in 2020 for a Yeezy Gap apparel line. The rapper and retail company had launched the earlier this year to sucessful results. Ye cited breach of contract for the split, while Gap president Mark Breitbard said their visions were “not aligned.”

German brand Adidas, with whom Ye has worked for nearly a decade, announced on Oct. 6 that their partnership was “under review.” The artist, who has been critical of the company and its CEO in the past, responded with an Instagram post captioned, “F— ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS ADIDAS RAPED AND STOLE MY DESIGNS.” The post has since been deleted.

At the impromptu press conference, Ye also lamented public figures like LeBron James and “The Shop: Uninterrupted” producing partner Maverick Carter. The pair announced on Oct. 13 that they would not air an episode of their HBO show on which Ye used his appearance “to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.”

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Similarly, N.O.R.E., co-host of the podcast “Drink Champs,” publicly apologized for permitting Ye to make anti-Semitic comments and state that George Floyd was killed by a fentanyl overdose, rather than police.

The rapper’s latest round of controversies erupted when he wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter” to his Yeezy Season 9 show at Paris Fashion Week. Shortly after, Twitter and Instagram restricted his accounts for hate speech, including a post stating that he was “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE.” Ye has since announced that he is buying the conservative social media platform Parler.

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Kanye ‘Ye’ West Apologizes for Anti-Semitic ‘Death Con’ Comments: ‘I Caused Hurt and Confusion’

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