Kanye West’s Yeezys Boycotted After Antisemitic Remarks: ‘Too Embarrassed’
Yeezys #Yeezys
Pressure is continuing to mount on Adidas to cut ties with Kanye West after some social media users vowed to start boycotting Yeezy footwear.
The musician and fashion designer has been under fire for his behavior and several recent controversial remarks, including supposed antisemitic tweets, and his wearing of “White Lives Matter” clothing.
A petition has started, and been signed by David Schwimmer, demanding Adidas drop West. The sports brand’s stock has also tumbled as a result of its continued silence.
The Adidas Yeezys are a collaboration between the German sports brand and the American rapper. The shoes have made billions of dollars since the first ones were released in February 2015.
“We will be burning my kid’s yeezys today,” businessman Ross Gerber wrote online. He then tweeted that he’d been convinced not to burn them, but instead to sell them and give the money to the pro-Jewish charity, the Anti-Defamation League.
“As a Jew and a person who chooses not to dress like a bully from back to the future 2, I will continue to not be buying Yeezys,” Jewish comedian Moshe Kasher wrote on Twitter in response to the backlash. Twitter user @hayabindayna23 wrote that they were “officially too embarrassed to wear my Yeezys.”
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Jonah Platt, the actor on Netflix show Uncoupled, also called for people to “stop buying Adidas” and to sell their Yeezys. He also included a clip of West in an interview in which he stated he could say “antisemitic” remarks and Adidas couldn’t drop him.
While many have called for West to be dropped, others have pointed out that it’s unlikely to happen while he’s still a profitable partner for Adidas.
YouTuber DJ Vlad explained why in his opinion, they weren’t going to cut ties. “They’re making billions of dollars from Yeezy and people are still buying his sneakers regardless of what he says,” Vlad wrote.
The West Wing actor Joshua Malina joked that it’s purely a matter of time until the partnership ends. “You know there’s someone at Adidas whose sole job is to figure out when kanyewest’s Jew hatred is costing them one cent more than Adidas Yeezy brings in.”
While West’s alleged antisemitic remarks have seemingly stirred this latest round of boycott calls, others have asked where the public outcry was when he was making “anti-black” remarks, with comments on Black Lives Matter and George Floyd.
Musician Chika addressed the people now calling for a boycott of Yeezys. “But you were cool with buying Yeezy’s when it was the black community under fire, huh?”
She continued: “For real, the swift response to kanye’s antisemitism vs. the silence when he was tormenting the black community is reaaaaally something to witness.”
After listing some of West’s past transgressions, Chika added: “It took one time for him to overstep a line with white people before they shut him down. pls return to your thinking corner and come back with something better than blaming ourselves.”
Verified Twitter user Michael Sykes II pointed out that in his opinion there had been repercussions over some of West’s previous controversial statements too.
“Adidas said they were evaluating their deal with West after he used Yeezy Szn 9 to give us anti-Black propaganda. But yes. Sure. This is happening because he’s antisemitic and not anti-Black. As if both things cannot be true at one time. Come on, yall,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to Adidas for comment.
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