Kanye West loses $2 billion in one day for his anti-Semitic comments
The rapper’s latest controversy has cost him the rupture of his commercial agreements with Adidas and Balenciaga.
Rapper Kanye West has finally reacted to the fallout from his anti-Semitic comments, which have recently led to the breaking of his business deals with several high-profile companies. With the controversy over his White Lives Matter shirt still hot , the artist returned to monopolize the controversy a few weeks ago for some tweets in which he launched accusations and threats against the Jewish community. Since then, brands such as Adidas and Balenciaga, his representative agency and the producer of his documentary have cut all relationships with him.
In a new Instagram post, West has hinted that the loss of business contracts stemming from the controversy has cost him a whopping $2 billion in a single day. In the publication, the rapper has referred directly to Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, who expressly requested in an article in the Financial Times that the companies that regularly work with the artist and the streaming platforms that distribute his music cut all ties . with him: “Ari Emanuel. I’ve lost $2 billion in one day. And I’m still alive. This is a love speech. I still love you. God still loves you. Money is not who I am. What I am is the people.”
Last Tuesday, Adidas, the brand that distributes Kanye West’s line of sneakers, Yeezy, liquidated its contract with the rapper, a movement whose impact on the accounts is estimated at about 246 million dollars for this year alone. In a statement, the sportswear brand has stated that it “does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech.” Referring to the rapper as Ye, the name he legally gave himself last year, Adidas commented: “Ye’s recent acts and comments are unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and violate the company’s values in terms of diversity, inclusion, respect mutual and justice”. The CAA agency has also stopped representing West for these same comments.
The millionaire consequences of Kanye West’s controversial anti-Semitic comments
Likewise, the distribution of a documentary about his figure has been canceled in light of the rapper’s controversial statements, as announced by MRC, the studio responsible for the production. Despite being finished, the documentary will not see the light. “This morning, after discussions with directors and our distribution partners, we have made the decision not to release our recently completed documentary on Kanye West,” executives at the company said in a joint statement. “We cannot support any content that amplifies your platform.”
These breaks in relations with the artist have occurred after several personalities from the entertainment world, such as the CEO of the UTA agency, Jeremy Zimmer, the representative Bob Gersh or Ari Emanuel himself asked the companies to stop working with Kanye West. The ex-wife of the rapper, Kim Kardashian, has also manifested herself via Twitter: “Hate speech is never okay or excusable. I support the Jewish community and call for the horrific violence and hateful rhetoric towards it to end immediately.”
The artist’s comments also encouraged a group of protesters last weekend to gather at a level crossing on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles to make Nazi salutes, hanging a banner from the bridge that read “Kanye is right about the Jews”.