When faced with any sort of backlash, many celebrities try their hardest to avoid the spotlight in the hopes that any and all negative attention will die down. Kanye West has always been one to go the opposite route, running headlong into controversies, but that tactic hasn’t proven so successful in the wake of his stream of anti-Semitic comments and accusations, as well as the massive lawsuit over his George Floyd claims. The rapper has been dropped from multiple high-dollar contracts with major companies, with Adidas confirming it severed ties with Ye in the midst of public outcries. And now we know he had an unsuccessful visit to Skechers’ offices, and that he’s now back on Instagram, though it’s anyone’s guess how long that will last.
Kanye West Escorted From Skechers Office
With Ye’s Adidas partnership being a core facet of what made him a billionaire, which he reportedly no longer is, it’s perhaps not so surprising that the defunct deal sparked him to seek out a similar agreement with one of the footwear giant’s competitors. But he clearly didn’t read the metaphorical room — Ye has drawn criticisms for saying he doesn’t read at all — as West and some of his crew made an impromptu visit to one of Skechers’ office buildings in Los Angeles and were promptly escorted out, with the company issuing a statement soon after to put distance between itself and the rapper’s hateful comments.
Skechers USA, Inc., The Comfort Technology Company™, stated Kanye West – also referred to as Ye – arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles. 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. 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.
It’s not clear exactly what Kanye West & Co. were attempting by showing up at Skechers without setting up any appointments or even simply calling ahead. It’s easy to speculate on the idea that his team was seeking discussions about potential partnerships, but it’s not clear why anyone would have been filming what happened. Unless, of course, Ye is attempting to film his own documentary or docu-series, as the fully finished MRC-produced documentary Ye has been shelved indefinitely in the wake of the controversy.
Kanye West Returned To Instagram
Instagram and Twitter were among the first companies to make moves against Kanye West by temporarily suspending his accounts following his initial wave of posts targeting the Jewish population (which itself followed Ye controversially wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt alongside Candice Owens for a calamitous Paris fashion show). But West returned to Instagram in the aftermath of the Skechers situation, sharing a screenshot of a parody site’s headline in response to companies distancing themselves from him.
He followed up on that post shortly after with a more serious message, imbued with the rapper’s ever-present bravado and confidence.
West went two posts straight without defaming anyone or using derogatory language, so perhaps this is a turning point for him during this tumultuous period for his career and personal life. Whether or not that streak will continue remains to be seen, especially as he's still in the midst of his divorce from Kim Kardashian, and will be seeking out yet another lawyer for that.
While Kanye West’s business deals may be few and far between at this point, fans can still listen to his music on platforms such as Spotify, whose CEO has spoken out against the rapper, while acknowledging the fact that the company would only excise his streaming tracks if the record label requests it.
