Kanye West turned up at the Skechers offices ‘unannounced’, the company has revealed, shortly after his brand Yeezy’s partnership with Adidas came to an end.
This week, Adidas confirmed that it had ended its decade-long business with the rapper after he made antisemitic comments, ceasing production of Yeezy-branded products.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.’
It appears that the 45-year-old tried to go directly to Skechers to see if the footwear company would be open to working with him, having also recently been dropped from Balenciaga, Gap and reportedly his talent agency as well.
Skechers USA outlined in a statement: ‘The Comfort Technology Company™, stated Kanye West – also referred to as Ye – arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles.
‘Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation.’
Skechers emphasised that it is ‘not considering and has no intention of working with West’.
‘We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech. The Company would like to again stress that West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices.’
Last week, Piers Morgan interviewed West about his recent controversial remarks on his TalkTV show Uncensored, during which he apologised to the people he’d hurt, after a tweet he posted threatening to go ‘Defcon 3 on Jewish people’.
Everywhere that’s cut ties with Kanye West
Several brands have ceased business with Kanye West following backlash in recent weeks, after the rapper was seen wearing a ‘white lives matter’ top and making widely-criticised antisemitic remarks.
Here’s who have cut ties with the musician as of late:
- Balenciaga
- Vogue Magazine and its editor, Anna Wintour
- Talent agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency)
- Adidas
- Gap
- Footlocker
- Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics
- Madame Tussauds
- Lawyer Camille Vasquez, who represented Johnny Depp, is also reportedly now not representing West after he hired her
‘I will say, I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the DEFCON… the confusion that I caused,’ he said.
‘I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I’m sorry for the families that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. Hurt people hurt people – and I was hurt.’
After the Gold Digger rapper was seen wearing a ‘white lives matter’ T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, Adidas confirmed its partnership with him was under review.
During a recent podcast appearance, West claimed that Adidas couldn’t end its partnership with him, stating: ‘The thing about me and Adidas is, I could literally say antisemitic s**t and they can’t drop me. I could say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?’
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After a petition was signed by tens of thousands of people, Adidas eventually dropped its Yeezy deal with Ye, although the firm was criticised for not acting quicker.
A statement from the brand read: ‘After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.
‘This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million (£217m) on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.
‘Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership. More information will be given as part of the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022.’
Donda Academy, private school founded by West, is said to have closed with immediate effect amid his recent controversies.
An email seen by The Times from the principal of the academic institution said that ‘at the discretion of our Founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately’, before adding: ‘THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Kanye West’s representatives for comment.
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