Kanye West said on Thursday October 27 that he had lost two billion dollars in one day, the repercussion of the cascading withdrawals of companies – Adidas, Gap – cutting ties after the series of anti-Semitic remarks by the American artist. “I lost two billion dollars in one day, and I’m still alive“, he wrote on Instagram. “I still love you, God still loves you, it’s not the money that defines me, it’s the people“, added the rapper, in a publication “liked” by nearly 1.5 million people.
After already several months of degraded relations, Adidas announced on Tuesday 25 October the “immediate end“of the partnership with Ye, long one of the most successful in the fashion world.”Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech“, justified the German equipment manufacturer in a press release. A few hours later, the American ready-to-wear chain Gap announced its similar decision, a week after the breakup announced by the fashion house Balenciaga.
The message posted by Kanye West on October 27 on Instagram seems to be addressed to Ari Emanuel, a boss of a Californian show-business agency who had called on all companies collaborating with him to cut their ties. Kanye West, who says he suffers from bipolar disorder, was suspended from Twitter after tweeting that he was going to attack Jews in a post that the social network has since deleted for violating its rules. He had also been temporarily suspended from Instagram.
The rapper appeared in early October wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter” crossed out during a fashion show in Paris. This slogan, used by the American far right, hijacks the name of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which campaigns against racism against African-Americans. On October 26, Ye was escorted from a sneaker brand Skechers office, the company said.
Australian musician and artist Nick Cave said on Thursday that Kanye West’s repeated anti-Semitic remarks were “ashamed“but let his music exceed”his character’s worst traits“.”It’s a personal choice whether or not to listen to someone with views“Questionable,” he said during a question and answer session at the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Center on the release of a book of interviews with Sean O’Hagan, Faith, hope and carnage.
“Currently there is Kanye West who makes anti-Semitic remarks. For me, he is the greatest artist of our generation. I love his music. (…) But the display of his anti-Semitic views is shameful” and “deeply disappointing“, continues Nick Cave.
“For a while it might be hard to listen to a” of his records but “in a way I give more value to what he produces“Only to his ideas and his character, he admits.