Kanye West backlash continues to unfold as the rapper turned fashion mogul has now become public enemy number one following his recent rants. West has been historically divisive, but this time he has mouthed off on the wrong community. After accusing specific groups of people of controlling all media and waging war against them, West has seen his support system dropping like flies left and right in a truly ironic fashion. However, West is keen to have the last laugh and told fans that some of these severed ties are actually what he truly wanted.
Not even a month ago, Kanye West was in the media venting about his frustration with the brand partnerships he had on going with The Gap and Adidas. According to West, he was going to leave the companies immediately, even though they were still in contracts with him for the next few years. Shortly after this, West took to Paris week to unveil his ALM shirt, followed by more problematic posts to social media that got him banned from Twitter and Instagram.
As if part of his plan, pressures began to mount from Jewish support groups from anyone affiliated with West to terminate their contracts. Balenciaga was one of the first companies to drop the axe, followed by Adidas and The Gap, who have ended their relationships with him this week. Despite gearing up to lose over $200 million in revenue, reports today claim that all Foot Locker stores have been ordered by Adidas to remove the Yeezy from their stock immediately.
In addition to this, a film company that had completed a documentary on West had to shelve it, and he was dropped from his entertainment management deal with CAA. West also had a Donda Sport division that saw its signees Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown cut ties. West’s GOOD Music label was also dropped from his deal with Def Jam Records.
West IG account is back up and running, but all that is up is the several text message screenshots he posted two weeks ago. Same thing with his Twitter account, which has not been updated since early October. Instead, Kanye is giving fans updates through a recent interview with Lex Fridman. Kanye called the day Balenciaga dropped him the “happiest day of his life.” That same day, his Drink Champs interview was also pulled.
West said he was on his way to Nashville to discuss purchasing the Parler app from George Farmer. “I love cutting the grass low. People really wasn’t with you. They was part-time,” he said of the people and business relationships he lost in the process. He went on to say, “I rather have people who are really with me and not people who are trying to use me.”
Kanye West says being dropped by “Drink Champs” & Balenciaga was “the happiest day of my life”https://t.co/FoC4kyecyo pic.twitter.com/ugBfeQDlPx
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) October 25, 2022
So is it possible that all of this was part of Kanye’s plan? He got out of the Adidas and Gap deals as he wanted. Now Kanye has the freedom to do whatever he wants with his clothing and music, but who will work with him now? Does he still have any allies? According to Forbes, the rapper is no longer a billionaire after losing his deal with Adidas. Forbes claims his net worth is now $400 million.
This is a pretty big deal for someone who loved to remind people he was a billionaire. Back in 2020, the rapper attempted to convince Forbes he was indeed a billionaire after the media company left him off their list. Kanye West eventually provided Forbes with ‘sufficient’ documentation to prove his worth. He also contacted the company and called them out for toying with him. Ye also insisted the publication was “part of a group of media” trying to sabotage him because he’s black.
Forbes even went out of their way to make it clear Kanye West was not the richest black person in America. The publication released a video suggesting the rapper’s net worth was no where near worth $6.6 billion. Forbes also named Robert F. Smith as the richest black man in America. Kanye West received this information from Bloomberg who calculates net worth a bit different. They also suggest his music catalog is valued at $90 million.
In a matter of days, Kanye West has been dropped from Balenciaga, Adidas, CAA, product removed from Foot Locker, and clients leaving Donda Sports. Only time will tell what happens with his Yeezy and brand overall. Regardless of what happens, his music catalog is still extremely profitable.
