45-year-old rapper Kanye West, now legally named Ye, has never been known for being a person who censors his words. In fact, he is infamous for his many controversies– ranging from stealing Taylor Swift’s spotlight at the VMAs to making a song with the lyrics “poopy-di scoop” simply because another rapper wanted the beat. In the past, most people did not take issue with his behavior and instead attributed it to his eccentric personality. However, his recent actions have begun to change the attitude of the general public, with some wondering if he has really gone too far this time.
Recently, Ye’s main controversy has centered around his antisemitic comments. On October 16th, he posted a tweet stating he is “going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” which was later taken down by Twitter and resulted in his account being removed. He then did multiple interviews in which he continued to spew antisemetic speech. During an interview on Revolt TV’s “Drink Champs” series, Ye said, “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry…they’ll take us and milk us till we die.” In the very same interview, Ye taunts Adidas, saying that “[he] could say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop [him].”
Along with his antisemetic speech, Ye has done and said things that have upset the black community. He was seen at a fashion show with conservative commentator Candace Owens wearing “White Lives Matter” t-shirts, a slogan commonly associated with white supremacists. To add insult to injury, he stated on a podcast that George Floyd– an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in 2020– was not killed by officer Derek Chauvin, but rather from abusing fentanyl. As a result of these comments, Floyd’s family have announced their plan to sue Ye for $250 million dollars for defamation, harassment and more.
When asked for a response to the backlash of his comments, Ye claimed that he is the richest black man in the world, and thanked “God for humbling [him].” He then went on to say that he can relate to George Floyd, because he knows “how it feels to have a knee on [his] neck now,” painting himself as a martyr.
Shortly after, Adidas and many other brands including Balenciaga and Gap cut ties with Ye. On, October 25th, Adidas make a statement saying that they “do not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.” The terminated partnership has already taken effect, as Ye, who was previously a billionaire, has now dipped to a networth of around $400 million. While Ye has earned a great deal of money from his music career, Yeezy products accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth. Along with Yeezy sales, Ye’s streaming numbers have gone down significantly. According to the data from Luminate, his album streams have gone down by 23% and show no sign of improvement.
Ye’s statements may be bad for him financially, but are even worse for his reputation. He has been promptly kicked off Twitter and Instagram, and has now adapted to voicing his opinion on Parler, a predominantly right-wing social media platform. This has significantly decreased his audience, and in turn, his support.
It is hard to say where Ye will go from here, but it is clear that his current choices have not reflected well on his success. Ye has built a sort of “immunity” from cancel culture over the years, but it may not be extreme to say that this may be the end of the rapper’s career.
