KEY POINTS
- Kanye West showed up without an appointment at Skechers headquarters for potential business opportunities
- Skechers executives escorted West out and clarified that it had no intention to work with him
- The company also condemned West’s divisive remarks, for it does not tolerate any form of hate speech
Kanye West lost another business partner and was turned down by a potential new one, according to a report.
The “Donda” artist was possibly looking for a new partner when he showed up uninvited to the Skechers headquarters in Manhattan Beach, California after Adidas decided to end their partnership due to his recent anti-Semitic remarks. The disgraced fashion designer reportedly arrived at the headquarters Wednesday morning and wished to talk to the executives at the sneaker company for potential business opportunities, TMZ reported.
However, Skechers had no plans to work with West. The company released a statement addressing the Grammy winner and Yeezy founder’s unexpected visit.
“Kanye West – also referred to as Ye – arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles,” the company said in a press release. “Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation. Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West.”
Skechers also clarified their stand on West’s anti-Semitic remarks, which prompted many companies to stop working with him.
“We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech. The Company would like to again stress that West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices,” the statement concluded.
Adidas announced that it would put its partnership with the “Gold Digger” rapper under review. On Tuesday, it gave an update announcing that the company decided to cut ties with West.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness,” the German company said in a statement.
“After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”
Following Adidas’ decision, West’s net worth reportedly shrank by $1.5 billion. But the contract termination was also expected to have a “short-term negative impact” on the company’s net income this year.
Balenciaga had also decided to stop working with West. Vogue and its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour reportedly have no intention of working with him again.
“Anna has had enough,” an anonymous source told Page Six. “She has made it very clear inside Vogue that Kanye is no longer part of the inner circle.”
Johnny Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, who West hired to represent his business deals, also declined to represent him. Her firm, Brown Rudnick, reportedly asked West to retract his anti-Semitic statement, but West refused and fired them.
In a recent interview with TMZ, Kim Kardashian‘s ex-husband said he refused to be canceled. “I ain’t losing no money,” he said, and, elsewhere in the interview, confidently added, “We here, baby, we ain’t going nowhere.”
