Things are getting tight for US rapper and fashion entrepreneur Kanye West. After he attracted attention through racist actions, anti-Semitic statements and most recently through the denial of the cause of George Floyd's death, former business partners such as the luxury label Balenciaga and Gap ended relationships with him. The rapper wants to defend himself in court against these decisions.
Kering, which owns Balenciaga, told fashion website Women's Wear Daily that "Balenciaga no longer has any relationship with this artist" and "there are no plans for future projects." Balenciaga has not made any further statements about the end of the collaboration, but the fashion label has removed all images of the rapper from the company's website.
The relationship between Balenciaga, its creative director Demna Gvasalia and West was quite close. At the beginning of the year there was a joint collection, and West appeared as a model at the label's Paris show. At the Givenchy show, West sat in the audience wearing a mouthguard with a bold Balenciaga logo.
At the beginning of October, Adidas also announced that it would review its collaboration with West. The company would thus bury the popular "Yeezy" label, with which the sporting goods manufacturer has had high sales for years. Adidas stated: "After repeated attempts to clarify the situation outside of the public eye, we have decided to review the partnership."
Kanye West accuses the brands of violating agreements and promises. The celebrity website "TMZ" reports that he therefore sought help from Camille Vasquez. Vasquez acted on the actor's side in the legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. In the future, West will therefore fight in court on two fronts - once for his business, once for custody of his children with Kim Kardashian.
The circle of people and companies around the US rapper is getting smaller and smaller – as is his reach. After being kicked out of Twitter and Instagram - of course also because of content that violates the guidelines of the platforms - he is now planning to buy the right-wing network "Parler". His only friend right now, it seems, is Elon Musk. He posted some pictures on Twitter showing him and Kanye West as heroes and musketeers. However, the richest man in the world has since removed these "funny" posts - they can be found, for example, on the tech blog "Gizmodo".
