Agency cuts ties with rapper formerly known as Kanye West
(KTLA) – Prestigious Hollywood talent agency CAA announced on Monday it has stopped representing the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The famed agency is just the latest to reportedly part ways with the artist now known as “Ye,” following antisemitic comments posted to social media.
Ana Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, and the magazine have also cut ties West, according to Page Six. Wintour and the fashion magazine follow French fashion house, Balenciaga, and J.P. Morgan. The Gap and Ye went their separate ways in September.
Ye’s record deal with longtime label Def Jam has reportedly ended too. However, his name and albums remain on the label’s website.
Adidas, the German athletic wear behemoth, has been quiet regarding the issue thus far, despite mounting pressure.
There is currently a petition calling for Adidas to cut ties. As of Monday, over 85,500 people have signed the petition.
Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, author Jessica Seinfeld, urged her 578,000 followers to sign the petition.
In a controversial appearance on the podcast “Drink Champs,” Kanye West said: “I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?” The clip is from the Oct. 16 episode, which has since been taken down.
On Oct. 10, the Anti-Defamation League published a letter urging Adidas “to reconsider supporting the Ye product line and to issue a statement making clear that the Adidas company and community has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism.”
Over the weekend, a hate group hung a banner from a 405 freeway overpass in Inglewood, California in support of West’s comments.
“Kanye is right about the Jews,” the sign read.
This was one of two antisemitic acts over the weekend in the Los Angeles area.
The action sparked many big names to speak up against hate speech, including Kim Kardashian, Ye’s ex-wife, who took to her Instagram story on Monday to issue a statement.
“Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” Kardashian wrote. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
Her sister Khloe Kardashian, reposted a message to her Instagram stories, penned by Seinfeld that reads: “I support my friends and Jewish people.”
Earlier this month, the artist tweeted he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to internet archive records, making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.
His antisemitic rhetoric prompted him to be locked out of his Instagram and Twitter accounts.