Famous clothing brand Adidas came under mounting pressure on Monday as it rushed to end its collaboration with controversial rapper Kanye West, who has splintered on anti-Semitic outings in recent weeks.
“His silence is a danger to Jews,” Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, an NGO fighting anti-Semitism, told Adidas.
“We cannot allow Ye’s anti-Semitism to be normalized. We must all demand that Adidas condemn his racist rhetoric by re-evaluating their partnership.”
The German company indicated in early October that it would reconsider its relationship with Kanye West, without giving any reason. She had appeared a few days earlier in a T-shirt crossed out with the slogan “White Lives Matter” during a fashion show in Paris.
Nazi-backed
This slogan, used by the American far right, diverts the name from the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which campaigns against widespread racism against African Americans.
A few days after this episode, Ye was suspended from Twitter after tweeting that he was going to attack Jews in a post that the social network deleted for violating its rules. He was also suspended from Instagram.
A banner was hung over a busy Los Angeles freeway over the weekend reading “Kanye is right about the Jews” and “Tune in if you agree.” Its authors were photographed performing the Nazi salute.
Kanye dropped by several brands
On Monday, the CAA agency that represents Kanye West, one of the biggest in Hollywood, said it was ending the partnership. The production company MRC has announced for its part the cancellation of a finished documentary about the rapper.
“We cannot support any content that expands your audience,” the company said, quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
Last week, the Balenciaga fashion house also ended its collaboration with the singer. “Hate speech is never acceptable or excusable,” her ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, wrote on Twitter and Instagram on Monday, without mentioning the name of her children’s father.
“I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and demand that the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric against them end immediately,” he continued.
Source: BFM TV
