American rapper, songwriter and fashion designer, Kanye West, has lost his place on Forbes' billionaires list after the clothing giant Adidas terminated their partnership which made up £1.3 billion of his net worth. This occurred after the rapper posted a series of anti-Semitic hate speech on social media. On Instagram, Kanye posted an alleged chat between him and fellow rapper Sean Combs, also known by his stage name, P Diddy, accusing him of being under the influence of Jews. Additionally, he went on to tweet that he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”, resulting in his eventual restriction from Instagram and Twitter.
The aftermath of these comments triggered big name companies, including Vogue and Balenciaga, to cut ties with the star. Not only that, he has now been dropped by his talent agency, Creative Arts Agency, and his lawyer, Camille Vasquez, who also worked with Johnny Depp. Film and television studio MRC have pulled out of a completed documentary about the rapper, whilst his upcoming stadium shows have been cancelled. Forbes magazine summarised that this incident illustrates the “self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages”.
Forbes magazine summarised that this incident illustrates the "self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities"
According to the FBI’s annual report on hate crimes, Jewish people were the most targeted religious group in 2020. To amplify this knowledge, the core American Jewish population is estimated to be 7.6 million people, as of 2020. This is 2.4% of the American population. By publicly posting such outrageous and violent remarks, Kanye has used his platform to promote and perpetuate stereotypical Jewish tropes to his following of over 31.5 million on Twitter alone.
This is not the first time the star has made offensive and controversial comments, but is actually the culmination of long-term behaviour. In the past, Kanye has also criticised the Black Lives Matter movement, wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt to Paris Fashion Week and suggested George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose rather than police brutality. West suffers with BPD, however, it is difficult to argue whether or not this is an explanation for his actions and he has previously criticised those who disregard his opinions as a result of his illness.
