US footwear retailer cuts ties with rapper’s shoe line after outrage over his antisemitic comments.
American footwear and sportswear retailer Foot Locker has severed ties with Kanye West’s Yeezy brand of shoes, removing the sneakers from its stores.
Foot Locker locations were also notified by the company’s head office to remove all Yeezy shoes from their shelves and place them in storage rooms until given further instructions.
Foot Locker will remain “a partner with Adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections” but “we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites,” Foot Locker told ABC News.
“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of antisemitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior,” the company added.
This week Gap also said it was pulling Yeezy Gap products, taking “immediate steps” to remove West’s clothing from its stores after it cut ties with the rapper in September, Breitbart reported.
West caused outrage after saying during an interview that the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain were signed because former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, wanted to “make money” from the deal.
The comments were condemned by a host of public figures. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the comments and said, “Antisemitism is the longest hatred in history. It goes back thousands of years. We’ve dealt with bigger problems than these stupidities.”
“The communists blamed the Jews for being capitalists. The capitalists blamed the Jews for being communists. You have a problem, blame the Jews. It is old stuff, it shouldn’t have a place in civilized discourse,” Netanyahu added.
“That is the reason we established the Jewish state, so that the Jewish people would have defense against these absurdities – and sometimes they’re coupled with violence. We won’t let that happen again.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently called on Adidas to drop its partnership with West over the rapper and fashion designer’s antisemitic statements.
Source: Arutz 7