written by chandler gillyard

In the past few weeks Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has faced extreme backlash for a stream of antisemitic comments and supremacist statements. West came to fame not only for his music but his sense of style, influence on the fashion world, and ever-evolving persona. It had seemed that no matter what the "I am a God" rapper said or did, his status in culture was solidified, however, this latest string of statements appears to be the beginning of the end.

While the music was his rise to fame, Kanye West's entrance into the fashion world boosted the star to billionaire status through his deals, companies, and partnerships. Notably, opening the Balenciaga 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week, and the Adidas Yeezy collaboration, helped launch his career in a new sector of culture. It had seemed that Ye was untouchable throughout the controversy the deals just kept on increasing. From his Netflix docu-series to podcasts and appearing on The Kardashians, there always seemed to be a compliment to his increasingly dangerous ideals and rhetoric. These 'compliments' would humanize Ye and bring him back into the light of the society, even after the infamous "Make America Great Again' hat scandal of 2018 or his bold statements of the idea that slavery was a choice weren't enough to get him out of the spotlight for good.

His most recent scandal began at Paris Fashion week this past October where he debuted a 'white lives matter' t-shirt alongside Candace Owens and several models on the Yeezy catwalk, which was the only garment with a message in the line. Coined as a white supremacist hate slogan in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the display of these shirts immediately caused a relay of backlash on the rapper, who claims he thought the statement was 'funny'. Later in a series of tweets West began his antisemitic rant, saying in a now-removed tweet that he was "going death con 3 on Jewish people", and how he cannot be antisemitic since he is Black, and Black people and Jewish people are the same.

In a world full of cancel culture the question that arises in the case of Mr. West is when do responsibility and repercussions come in after such hate speech and action? When do the brand deals and connections begin to hold themselves accountable for representing someone with such ideals? The excuse that many have used in the past is that of "genius", musical, literary, or creative genius; all geniuses are a little crazy right? No," The phrase is used to exonerate people of other social responsibility. It’s a way of excusing their inappropriate behavior,...But that’s not enough. You can’t be inspiring people on one day and then the next day talking about how much you love Trump and preaching anti-Blackness," says political commentator Keith Boykin.

Days after teasing that Adidas would never drop him and his deal was saying, “The thing about me and Adidas is like, I can literally say antisemitic s---, and they can’t drop me" on October 16, they did precisely that. Adidas was the catalyst that caused many brands to drop their deals with West. Even his musical representation at CAA dropped him and he is currently labelless.

With someone like Kanye West, who has had such a large influence on multiple industries, it is interesting to note what lines will and won't be crossed, and what is 'ignored' by brands in favor of profit. Moving forward we can only hope that brands will maintain this level of accountability regardless of what it may cost them.