The curious case (read: anti-Semitic rhetoric fallout) of Ye, a.ka. the artist formerly known as Kanye West, continues and boy, oh boy, have we got a lot to tell you. Though a plethora of people and companies have already severed ties with the Yeezus artist, you can now add Skechers, TJ Maxx, Peloton, Apple Music, and Madame Tussauds to the list. Plus, school just got canceled for the rest of the year for the students over at Donda Academy. I’ll explain.
Per the AP, on Wednesday, the “Jesus Walks” rapper was escorted out of Skechers’ headquarters in Los Angeles due to his appearance being “unannounced and without invitation.”
“Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation,” the company said in a statement. “Skechers 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.”
That same day, retailer TJ Maxx announced it would be dropping all Yeezy products from its stores globally.
“At TJX we do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or hate of any kind. We have instructed our buying teams not to purchase this merchandise for sale in any of our stores globally,” the company said in a statement sent to CNN.
On the music front, Peloton also announced that it would no longer be playing any of Ye’s music in any new classes via an official statement, per The New York Post:
“We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton indefinitely paused the use of Kanye West’s music on our platform. This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes and we are not suggesting any class that includes his music in our proactive recommendations to Members. You should know this was a decision we made immediately following his remarks. Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and thank you for being a Member of our Peloton community.”
Per Billboard, Apple Music noticeably removed its popular Kanye West Essentials playlist from its platform, seemingly in an attempt to distance themselves from the Jesus Is King artist though all of his albums and songs still remain and they’ve yet to officially comment on the matter. Spotify is also keeping the rapper’s music on its platform, though its CEO Daniel Ek did express his displeasure for the artist and his comments on Tuesday, calling them “awful.”
Ek later explained that if Ye’s anti-Semitic comments were made on a podcast or a recording on their platform, then they would reconsider the decision on whether or not to pull his songs.
“It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy,” Ek explained per the The Hollywood Reporter, adding, “It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.”
Over across the pond, West’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds in London has been moved to the archive room and out of public view, according to The Guardian.
BUT WAIT—THERE’S MORE.
In a completely shocking turn of events for students and parents, on Wednesday, West’s school Donda Academy announced it would be closing its doors—effective immediately for the remainder of the school year.
The news was shared in an email sent out to attendees by the school’s principal and obtained by London’s The Times:
“Dear Donda Academy Families,
We hope this email finds you well. First, we would like to express our gratitude for the community of families and scholars that Donda Academy brought together. However, at the discretion of our Founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately, Thursday. October 27. THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW.
Our leadership team will be working diligently to assist all families during this transition, ensuring that every scholar has what they need to succeed in their next community in a prompt and gracious manner. We intend to begin afresh in September of 2023, and we are confident that our scholars will continue to advance as the creative innovators, courageous influencers and academic leaders of the next generation. Thank for your support.”
Additionally, the school’s high school basketball team has also been kicked out of the popular Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics tournament due to Ye’s statements as well, as noted by Complex.
“In light of recent anti-Semitic statements by Kanye West, we will no longer be hosting Donda Academy at this year’s Play-By-Play Classics events, including the Kentucky Play-By-Play Classic scheduled for December 11, 2022 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY,” the company said in a statement. “Kanye’s words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events—a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity, and mutual respect.”
Saying of the students, it later continued, “By all accounts, they are an exemplary group of young men. Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events.”
And if you thought all of these recent developments should be enough for the Graduation rapper to keep a low profile—you’d be thinking wrong.
Per Variety, upon him making his grand return to Instagram, Ye seemingly addressed his recent financial blows and woes in a post late Wednesday night, writing:
“Ari Emmanuel. I lost 2 billion dollars in one day. And I’m still alive. This is love speech. I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people is who I am.”