Kanye West with Mark Zuckerberg (Instagram pic)
Balenciaga, the luxury fashion firm, has severed ties with controversial musician Kanye West over his recent anti-Semitic comments. The company will no longer carry his Ye brand.
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering, Balenciaga’s parent company, said in a statement.
Kanye West, the former Mr. Kim Kardashian, has been known for erratic behavior over the years. But recently he really steeped in a lot of hot water over what many describe as anti-Semitic remarks. The rapper and professional controversy maker was even censored by social media services like Instagram because of his bizarre rantings against people like Jared Kushner and Mark Zuckerberg.
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Kanye West tweeted that he was ready to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” whatever that means. Referring to Jews, he said, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone [who] opposes your agenda.” And West also denied that he could be an anti-Semite saying that he “actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jews.” As the people say on social media – WTF.
Kanye West also accused Jews of having invented so-called cancel culture. Blaming Jews for his recent problems, West said, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone [who] opposes your agenda.”
Balenciaga had only just begun a partnership with Kanye West on his Yeezy Gap line in January of this year. At the time the company said that it would pair “Ye’s creative vision” with Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, a 40-year-old Georgian designer who has been designing ready-to-wear clothing for Balenciaga for six years.
The news comes a month after the Gap brand of clothing announced last month that it would also be parting ways with Kanye West and his Ye brand after a little more than two years of what was supposed to be a ten year deal. Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap Brand, said at the time that his company decided to “wind down the partnership” with Kanye West because their “vision is not aligned.”
