Rich Fury/Getty Images
Foot Locker and Gap Remove Kanye West Yeezy Merchandise From Stores
The corporate fallout from Kanye West’s anti-Semitic remarks continues.
Adidas announced on Tuesday that it was ending its multi-billion-dollar partnership with Ye, and now Foot Locker has said it will immediately remove Yeezy products from its stores.
“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of antisemitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior,” the company said in a statement. “While we remain a partner with adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections – we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.”
Amid the backlash, Gap has also announced that it is pulling his Yeezy Gap line from its stores and has shut down YeezyGap.com.
“Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values,” said Gap, which announced in September that it was terminating its partnership with Ye.
Gap and Foot Locker echo Adidas’ previous statement. “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,” said the company, which stands to lose $246 million this year as a result.
The German sportswear giant had faced pressure to cut ties with Ye, who previously challenged Adidas to drop him. “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” he said during his appearance on “Drink Champs.”
Gap released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/ozXv42XdNf
— What’s Trending (@WhatsTrending) October 25, 2022
In the last few weeks, several companies have distanced themselves from West due to his anti-Semitic remarks on social media and in interviews, and other controversial behavior including his “White Lives Matter” shirt at Paris Fashion Week.
His former talent agency CAA dropped him and Def Jam, his longtime record label, said that his contract had expired last year. Balenciaga also announced that it was cutting ties with West.
West has also been stripped of his billionaire status. Forbes has removed him from its list of billionaires, claiming he is now worth $400 million after his lucrative deal with Adidas ended.