Manhattan Beach, California. – The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was escorted out of sports cobbler Skechers’ California headquarters after showing up unannounced on Wednesday, a day after Adidas has ended its partnership with the artist following his anti-Semitic remarks.
The Grammy winner, who legally changed his name to Ye, “arrived unannounced and uninvited” at Skechers headquarters in Manhattan Beach, southwest of Los Angeles, the company said.
“Since Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his crew out of the building after a brief conversation,” according to a company statement.
“Skechers does not contemplate or intend to work with West,” the company said. “We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not condone anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech.”
The rapper’s Instagram account – which had been suspended for anti-Semitic comments – resumed posting on Tuesday evening. A new post showing a screenshot of a text message that appeared to be from a contact at a high-profile law firm explained when Ye could resume manufacturing clothes and new shoe designs.
The message details could not be verified; email messages sent to Ye’s representatives were not immediately returned.
For weeks, Ye has made anti-Semitic comments in interviews and on social media, including a post on Twitter earlier this month saying he would soon be going “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”, an apparent reference to the scale of American defense readiness conditions known as DEFCON. His messages led to his suspension of Twitter and Instagram.
He apologized for Monday’s tweet.
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On Tuesday, sportswear maker Adidas announced it was ending a partnership with Ye that helped make him a billionaire, saying he does not tolerate anti-Semitism and hate speech.
The German sneaker giant said it expects the decision to immediately halt production of its Yeezy products to hurt its net profit by up to 250 million euros ($246 million).
The company had stuck with Ye through other controversies after he suggested slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19[feminine] vaccinate the “mark of the beast”.
Other companies have also announced that they are cutting ties with Ye, including Foot Locker, Difference, TJ Maxx, JPMorgan Chase bank and Vogue magazine. An MRC documentary about him was also dropped.
The Adidas move and other terminated business deals have caused his net worth to plummet to the point where he is not a billionaire more, according to Forbes.
Once valued at $2 billion, the rapper and designer now has a net worth of around $400 million, according to Forbes, with that total including cash, real estate and the value of his music. He also owns 5% of Skims, the shapewear brand founded by his ex-wife Kim Kardashian West, with whom he has four children.
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