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Entertainment and fashion firms cut ties with Kanye West

By | Published on Tuesday 25 October 2022

Kanye West

An increasing number of Kanye West’s business partners in the music, fashion and wider entertainment industries are cutting their ties with the rapper following his recent spate of controversial statements.

West has been widely criticised for recent comments he has made in interviews and on social media, including remarks about the death of George Floyd and various anti-semitic statements. Campaigners and politicians have also expressed concern that those latter statements in particular have been embraced by and are therefore empowering extreme right wing groups.

Within the entertainment industry, talent agency CAA has seemingly cut its ties with West, while rival agencies UTA and WME have both also criticised the rapper.

And on the recordings side, Universal Music has reportedly sought to distance itself from West and his Good Music label, which it previously distributed via its Def Jam division. Meanwhile, media firm MRC has announced it is shelving a documentary it has already completed about the rapper.

In terms of West’s business partnerships in the fashion domain, they were already falling apart even before the more recent controversies. It was confirmed in September that West’s alliance with Gap was coming to an end, while Adidas recently said it was reviewing its long-standing partnership with the rapper.

According to sources who have spoken to Bloomberg, the sportswear firm could confirm as soon as today that it is ending its business relationship with West’s Yeezy brand.

It seems likely that the list of companies either cutting ties with or publicly criticising West will only continue to grow as the week progresses.



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