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Balenciaga Cuts Ties with Kanye West
Balenciaga has ended its relationship with Kanye West.
In the wake of his controversial public comments, Kering, the parent company for the French fashion house, has announced that it will no longer be working on projects with Ye.
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering said in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily.
Ye has had a long-standing relationship with Balenciaga. He mostly recently walked the runway during the designer’s summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week. An image of him has been removed from Balenciaga’s website.
Earlier this year, Balenciaga artistic director Demna collaborated with Ye on his Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga line, and Demna served as creative director for his Donda 2 performances.
Balenciaga has close ties with West’s ex, Kim Kardashian, who has starred in the designer’s campaigns.
While a reason was not given, the announcement comes after the rapper’s anti-Semitic remarks including threats against Jewish people. After he was suspended from Instagram and Twitter, he revealed plans to buy conservative social media platform Parler.
He also continues to face backlash for the “White Lives Matter” shirt he wore at Paris Fashion Week and controversial comments about George Floyd’s death, which have prompted a $250 million lawsuit from Floyd’s family.
Last month, Ye terminated his partnership with Gap, while his multi-billion-dollar deal with Adidas remains “under review.”