Kanye West Facing Backlash for Anti-Semitic Comments

Kanye West has been dropped from Adidas, a German sportswear company, for making antisemitic comments publicly on his Twitter account. Kanye posted that he would “go death con 3 on Jewish people” and also claimed that since he is black himself, cannot be antisemitic. In another tweet, he posted that he “could say antisemitic sh*t and that Adidas can’t drop me” Adidas responded that this goes against the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness.” Adidas has been reviewing its partnership with Kanye since over a span of two weeks he had been making racist, problematic posts. He had also been facing backlash for wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt, which played a large role in the company’s decision to cut ties with West. 

The founder of Adidas, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, was a Nazi. These values are something that the company tries to steer clear of, so Kanye’s recent actions have caused much chaos between the company and its profits. Adidas is expected to lose an estimated $250 million in the first year of the backlash. Adidas has stopped all production of Yeezy shoes and all payments to Kanye West.  According to CNN, Vogue and Balenciaga have reportedly dropped West as a client for the same reasons as Adidas. Other companies such as Gap and Footlocker have also cut ties with him as well. 

Dawntashia Alexander, a senior at Mccracken County High School, says that “I believe Kanye deserved to be dropped and that he needs some psychological evaluation.”

Many people have the same opinion. Adidas has also received backlash for not dropping Kanye sooner, considering his inability to be respectful and use social media responsibly.