Shopify Shuts Down Kanye West’s Yeezy Site, Talent Agent Drops Him Amid Latest Antisemitic Tear: Timeline

Topline

Kanye West's talent agency has dropped him as a client after he posted dozens of antisemitic messages online and sold swastika T-shirts on his fashion brand’s website, leading Shopify to shut down the site—and as he faces a lawsuit from an Jewish ex-staffer who alleges he once texted her, "Hail Hitler."

Timeline

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What Else Did Kanye West Say During His Twitter Rant?

His posts included dozens of antisemitic comments about Jewish people and the Holocaust, including “I LOVE HITLER NOW WHAT B*****ES,” “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” and “I’m going to normalize talking about Hitler they way talking about killing n****s has been normalized.” One post read “I LOVE WHEN JEWISH PEOPLE COME TO ME AND SAY THEY CANT WORK WITH ME ANYMORE ITS MY FAV”—seemingly a reference to the business deals he lost for his earlier, similar comments that included relationships with Balenciaga, Gap, Foot Locker, Creative Artists Agency, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and two law firms (he was also named “Antisemite of the Year" by watchdog group StopAntisemitism). Among the tweets, posted over a 10-hour period, were also comments about Combs, who has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of people, and the bizarre stunt at the Grammy Awards last weekend that saw West walk the red carpet alongside a nude Censori. West on Friday posted “I HAVE DOMINION OVER MY WIFE THIS AINT NO WOKE AS FEMINISH S**T.” He added that wearing the dress was Censori’s decision and he wouldn’t make her do anything she didn’t want to do, but that she “DEFINITELY WOULDNT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL.”

Chief Critic

The American Jewish Committee issued a statement Friday condemning West's comments, calling on others in the entertainment industry to disavow his "blatant hatred." It added: "At a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing to terrifying levels worldwide, Ye is actively endangering Jews," the organization said. Billionaire X owner Elon Musk, who has himself been in hot water over behavior perceived as antisemitic, responded in agreement to an X user who said West's posts were "deranged." "So many issues like this can be solved simply by internalizing responsibility," Musk said. CyberWell, a nonprofit focused on combatting online antisemitism and Holocaust denial, said the rant was an example of social media companies "systematically reducing the enforcement of their own digital policies." The ADL, an anti-hate organization, condemned the sale of the swastika T-shirts. "As if we needed further proof of Kanye's antisemitism, he chose to put a single item for sale on his website — a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika," the group said. "The swastika is the symbol adopted by Hitler as the primary emblem of the Nazis. It galvanized his followers in the 20th century and continues to threaten and instill fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy."

Tangent

The post that launched West’s most recent tirade contained only two words: “FREE PUFF” in reference to Combs. He then appealed to President Donald Trump in a post reading, "@realDonaldTrump PLEASE FREE MY BROTHER PUFF," and claiming prosecutors are "TRYING TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF PUFF.” Combs, who has gone by Puff Daddy, Puffy and P. Diddy over the course of his career, was arrested and jailed in September after being indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Prosecutors allege he “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.” He is also facing dozens of individual lawsuits from women and men who claim they were sexually assaulted by the music mogul in incidents dating back to the 1990s. Combs has denied all of the allegations against him.

Surprising Fact

On the first day of his Twitter rant, West launched a collaboration between his fashion line, Yeezy, and Comb’s Sean John brand, which was taken down days later. There were multiple shirts available for sale on the Yeezy website featuring the Sean John logo (they're listed for $20) and West said the profits will be split 50/50 between he and Combs. He then added, “I JUST FOUND OUT THAT PUFF IS NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE OR COLLECT MONEY WHILE HE’S LOCKED UP SO I’MA SEND HIS HALF OF THE MONEY TO JUSTIN.” Who he was referring to is unclear, but his oldest son’s name is Justin.

Key Background

A now-infamous antisemitic conversation between Kanye West and Tucker Carlson was leaked in October of 2022 after Fox News edited them out of a broadcast that saw West claim the body-positive movement is a "genocide of the Black race" and that he was pressured into staying quiet about his support of Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election. The next October, a series of bizarre public appearances, interviews and social media posts from West came after the rapper wore a "White Lives Matter" shirt—a slogan associated with a neo-Nazi group—to his Yeezy fashion show in Paris. West was restricted on Instagram and briefly suspended from Twitter. CNN then reported that West wanted to name his 2018 album after Adolf Hitler and several anonymous sources told reporters he had an “obsession” with the Nazi leader. Six people who'd previously worked with West told NBC News he'd made several pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi remarks and in December of 2023 he praised Hitler during an appearance on Infowars, the broadcast channel run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. West was then dropped from a majority of his business partnerships and he dropped out of the public eye for months.

Forbes Valuation

West, once counted among the world's billionaires, lost the status when his Adidas deal, estimated to account for $1.5 billion of his net worth, fell through. Without Adidas, Forbes estimated in 2022 that West is worth $400 million thanks to his real estate, value of his music catalog, stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims, and other assets. West earlier this year claimed to be a billionaire again—and repeated the claim in his rant on X Friday—but we have not changed our valuation.

Further Reading