Balenciaga ditches Kanye West and officially severs business ties

Balenciaga SA luxury fashion house ended its ties with Kanye West not long after he made headlines due to his controversial comments and antisemitic posts on social media. The company was said to have confirmed its decision late last week.

West, who has changed his name to Ye, has been collaborating with Balenciaga for his Yeezy Gap product line, which was said to be hugely popular. This was the same line that Gap Inc. announced in June 2020 as part of its 10-year deal with Ye.

However, the rapper and businessman announced last month that he is cutting his partnership with the American global clothing and accessories retailer. Ye cited “substantial non-compliance” as the reason for his decision.

Prior to Ye’s declaration, Gap said it was slowing down its collaboration with the rapper. In an internal memo that was sent out by the company’s president and chief executive officer, Mark Breitbard, it was explained Gap made the decision as their vision is not aligned with the rapper.

Earlier this month, Adidas also said that it is also reviewing its partnership with West, and this declaration increased the tension in their strained business relationship.

In any case, Balenciaga’s move to sever ties with West was said to have been confirmed by the company’s parent company, France-headquartered Kering. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” the firm simply said in a statement sent to Women's Wear Daily in response to a query and did not provide any other information about the matter.

Kanye West’s trouble with the major companies that it has partnered with increased after he posted a series of tweets and remarks that many people called antisemitic. The tweets were already deleted, but his social media accounts - Twitter and Instagram - were restricted earlier this month for violation of policies for online posts.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League has been pushing for Adidas to drop Kanye West as well. They have sent a letter to the sportswear and sneaker company to express their sentiments.

“In light of Kanye West’s increasingly strident antisemitic remarks over the past few weeks, we were disturbed to learn that Adidas plans to continue to release new products from his Yeezy brand without any seeming acknowledgment of the controversy surrounding his most recent remarks,” the ADL’s chief, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, stated in a letter to Adidas.

The CEO added, “We urge Adidas to reconsider supporting the Ye product line and to issue a statement making clear that the Adidas company and community has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism.”