A Timeline of the Consequences Kanye West Has Faced for His ‘WLM’ Shirts & Antisemitic Hate Speech

Celebrities quickly shared their concerns over the rapper’s “White Lives Matter” shirts, and later, his Oct. 8 tweet saying he’d go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

Jaden Smith was among the first to speak out. The young rapper, who was in attendance at Ye’s Paris Fashion Week show, left the Yeezy event early. He tweeted afterward that he didn’t care whose show it was: “If I Don’t Feel The Message I’m Out. Black Lives Matter.”

Diddy also spoke out regarding the shirts in a video. “All America has planned for us is poverty, incarceration and death,” he said. “So before I can get to any other lives matter … Black lives matter, don’t play with it.”

Jamie Lee Curtis was one of many celebrities who spoke up loudly after Ye’s tweet. She first responded with her own message on Twitter, noting, “The holiest day in Judaism was last week. Words matter. A threat to Jewish people ended once in a genocide. You are a father. Please stop.” She later went on the TODAY show and reiterated her concerns, condemning his hate speech as “just abhorrent.”

See how musicians reacted to his antisemitic comments and WLM shirts.

After Ye posted comments on Instagram that were considered by many to be “anti-Jewish,” the social media platform restricted the rapper’s account due to a violation of the company’s rules and guidelines. That led Ye to end his two-year hiatus from Twitter to not only air his grievances with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the suspension, but to also continue making antisemitic remarks.

“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” he tweeted Oct. 8. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” The tweet was later taken down and the account suspended for violating community guidelines.

In the days following Ye’s antisemitic rants on Twitter and Instagram, the rapper faced a decline in radio play. According to Luminate, West’s daily spins declined 21.1%, from 325 in the eight days preceding his social account restrictions to 258 in the eight days following them, while his average daily radio audience fell 21.4%.

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel encouraged several of Ye’s business partners — which includes Apple, Spotify and more — to halt their business with the rapper. In his piece — which referenced a similar 2006 op-ed that he wrote calling entertainment companies to stop working with actor Mel Gibson for antisemitic remarks — he urged Parler to not go through with the rapper’s acquisition of their platform.

“West is not just any person — he is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world,” Emanuel wrote. “And among them are young people whose views are still being formed. This is why it is necessary for all of us to speak out. Hatred and anti-Semitism should have no place in our society, no matter how much money is at stake.”

“Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience,” the CEO added. “There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism.” 

Though Ye had the privilege of walking in Balenciaga’s Summer 2023 show for Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 2, the brand still made the move to sever ties with the rapper.

Balenciaga’s parent company issued a brief statement (which did not mention Ye’s antisemitic remarks or his “WLM” shirt) on Oct. 21, stating that they would no longer would be working with him. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering told Women’s Wear Daily.

After several stars let their opinions be known regarding Ye’s antisemitic comments, the rapper’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloé Kardashian both shared statements in support of Jewish people, though neither called out the rapper by name.

“Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” the SKIMS mogul — who shares four young children with the rapper — tweeted on Oct. 24. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”

Meanwhile, Khloé reshared a message on Instagram Stories from cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld’s account: “I support my Jewish friends and the Jewish people.”

There’s a completed documentary about Kanye West that the world will never get to see, MRC said on Oct. 24. The company — which is also Billboard‘s former publisher — issued a statement regarding the rapper’s antisemitic marks, stating it can no longer support the rapper and his actions.

“This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West,” CEO Modi Wiczyk, CEO Asif Satchu and COO Scott Tenley wrote in a joint statement. “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”

“Kanye is a producer and sampler of music,” their statement continued. “Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3,000 years — the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain … Kanye has now helped mainstream it in the modern era.”

Read MRC’s full memo.

A representative for CAA confirmed to Billboard on Oct. 24 that Ye is no longer a client of theirs. The rapper joined CAA in 2012 to follow agent Cara Lewis, but chose to stay represented by the agency, even after Lewis’ 2016 departure.

Rival agency UTA had also took a stance. On Oct. 23, CEO Jeremy Zimmer sent a companywide email titled “Rise of Anti Semitism and Hate” that stated West’s comments will “embolden others to amplify their vile beliefs,” and added that “we can’t support hate speech, bigotry or anti-Semitism. Please support the boycott of Kanye West.”

After facing calls to end its relationship with Ye, Adidas also made the decision to cut ties with the rapper on Oct. 25, ending a nearly 10 year partnership that saw the launch of the popular — and lucrative — Yeezy sneakers.

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement. “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.”

Adidas revealed in its statement that it conducted a “thorough review” and would cease production of all Yeezy products, as well as payments to Ye and his respective companies. The sportswear company added that the move would cost it $246 million in profit, while the deal cost Ye his billionaire status and dropped his net worth to $400 million, according to Forbes.

Ye and the Gap initially went their separate ways in September, but on Oct. 25, the brand took it a step further. In a statement, Gap shared that it is taking “immediate steps” to remove the rapper’s products from all its retail stores, and had ended operations of Yeezygap.com.

“In September, Gap announced ending its Yeezy Gap partnership,” the company wrote in a statement. “Our former partner’s recent remarks and behavior further underscore why. We are taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap product from our stores and we have shut down Yeezygap.com.”

“Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values,” the Gap continued. “On behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders, we are partnering with organizations that combat hate and discrimination.”

Keeping in line with Adidas and Gap, Foot Locker issued a statement stating it will no longer carry Ye’s products in stores or online.

“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of antisemitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior,” a company spokesperson said on Oct. 25. “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.”

In an Oct. 25 interview with Reuters, Spotify CEO Daniel Elk described Ye’s remarks as “awful” but noted the rapper’s comments did not violate Spotify’s anti-hate policy as they were made off of the music streaming platform. Several individuals have called for streaming giants to pull Ye’s music, but Elk asserted that Ye’s music will only come down if he or his label requests it.

“It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy,” Ek told Reuters. “It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.”

Universal Music Group, who previously worked with Ye under its Def Jam label and merchandise company Bravado, clarified to Billboard in a statement on Oct. 25 it had ceased relations with the rapper in 2021, and denounced his antisemitic comments.

“Def Jam’s relationship with Ye as a recording artist, Def Jam’s partnership with the GOOD Music label venture and Ye’s merchandise agreement with Bravado all ended in 2021.” The spokesperson continued, “There is no place for antisemitism in our society. We are deeply committed to combating antisemitism and every other form of prejudice.”

Sony Music Publishing has been the publishing administrator for Ye’s catalogue for years, but the deal expired in early 2022. Last week, the publisher issued a memo to employees that read, “At Sony Music Group, commitment to tolerance, inclusion and equality for all are at the heart of who we are as a company. Consistent with these values, we denounce antisemitism. Through our partnership with the UJA Federation, we work to combat prejudice against the Jewish community.”

 L.A. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald tweeted on Oct. 25 to announce he is severing ties with Ye’s Donda Sports in light of the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.

“Our family has made the decision to part ways with Donda Sports,” read a statement from Donald and his wife, Erica Donald. “The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family.”

Jaylen Brown, a Boston Celtics shooting guard who previously stated he would be sticking with Donda Sports, shared he had a change of heart. “In the past 24 hours, I’ve been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public remarks and actions,” Brown tweeted in a statement. “I have always, and will always, continue to stand strongly against any antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind.”

TJ Maxx, an American department store chain known for re-selling clothing and other designer merchandise at lower prices, issued a statement Wednesday (Oct. 26) revealing its buyers have been instructed to not purchase Yeezy products in light of Adidas and Gap denouncing the rapper.

“At TJX we do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or hate of any kind,” read a statement shared by the retailer with CNN. “We have instructed our buying teams not to purchase this merchandise for sale in any of our stores globally.”

Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics announced on Wednesday (Oct. 26) that it is dropping Kanye West‘s Donda Academy team from its season schedule.

“While we are firm in our reasoning for this decision, it does not diminish our heartache and regret for Donda’s hardworking athletes who will lose out the most as a result of Kanye’s actions,” the organization shared in a statement, according to TMZ, who first reported the news. “Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events.”

Madame Tussauds London issued a statement announcing its plans to pull Ye’s wax figure from the main display floor and into an archive.

“Ye’s figure has been retired from the attraction floor to our archive. Each profile earns their place at Madame Tussauds London and we listen to our guests and the public on who they expect to see at the attraction,” a spokesperson for Madame Tussauds told BBC.

Though Madame Tussauds has several outposts around the world, there has never been a figure of the rapper in the United States, which includes locations in New York City, Orlando, San Francisco, Hollywood, Las Vegas and Nashville.

Manhattan law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft — which represented West in September in his efforts to terminate his partnership with Gap — is no longer working with the rapper, Bloomberg Law reported Oct. 26. “We are not presently providing any representation and have no intention of providing any future representation,” a Cadwalader spokesman told Bloomberg Law.

Brown Rudnick — whose lawyer Camille Vasquez represented Johnny Depp in his defamation trial earlier this year — confirmed they are no longer working with Ye, as first reported by the New York Post.

The streaming music giant has apparently pulled Kanye West Essentials Playlist from its services in light of the rapper’s repeated anti-Semitic remarks.

Texas A&M will no longer use Ye’s “Power” for the football team’s pregame entrance song, athletic director Ross Bjork revealed on Thursday (Oct. 27).

Instead, he revealed that the team will use “sound effects & Aggie Drum Line transitioning to the War Hymn.”

Just days after returning to Instagram after his account was restricted earlier in October, Ye’s account was locked down once again, the social media platform confirmed to Billboard on Halloween. A rep for Instagram’s parent company, Meta, said that this time, the rapper’s account would be restricted for 30 days, and also noted that it had deleted content it found to violate the platform’s policies. Meta did not indicate which posts it removed.

“Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked,” West tweeted out to his nearly 32 million followers on Sunday (Nov. 20) after new Twitter boss Elon Musk began reinstating previously suspended accounts. In another tweet he wrote, “Shalom.”

Musk’s plans for Twitter, including his decisions to reinstate Trump and West, led to some celebrities abandoning the platform.

In a Nov. 21 TikTok video, former girlfriend Julia Fox responded to a commenter who wrote, “I just wish you weren’t dating a famously violent misogynist and antisemite” (Fox and West broke up in early 2022).

“I sounded almost as dumb as you guys saying I should have done something to stop him. But I know, I was delusional, I thought I could help him,” she explained. “I will say, that month we spent together, he wasn’t on Twitter. He wasn’t on any forms of social media. We only really talked about clothes and weird ideas, plans for the future.”

The Uncut Gems star said Ye’s return to Twitter ended their liaison. “The moment he started tweeting, I was out,” she said. “The media reported on our relationship the week after it happened or something.”

On Nov. 22, Ye dined with former President Trump and white nationalist/Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Flor.

Denouncements came swiftly and from many corners, with several Trump allies condemning the dinner, including former vice president Mike Pence.

Several days later, Trump insisted that “he never met and knew nothing about” Fuentes prior to Ye bringing him to the dinner. Both Trump and Ye have announced 2024 presidential campaigns.

On Nov. 26, Adidas confirmed it had opened an investigation into inappropriate workplace conduct after numerous ex-employees, in an anonymous letter, accused the sportswear brand of insufficient response to West’s allegedly toxic behavior on the job. The former employees allege that West showed them sexual photos and videos in meetings and also accused him of bullying.

In a Monday (Nov. 28) interview with The Los Angeles Times, Pusha T spoke about working with West on his 2022 album It’s Almost Dry (West provided a guest verse and production).

“It’s definitely affected me. It’s been disappointing. As a Black man in America, there is no room for bigotry or hate speech. So yeah. It’s been very disappointing,” Pusha said.

In a Monday (Nov. 28) interview with Tim Pool on his Timcast IRL podcast, West brought along white nationalist Nick Fuentes and alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos (the latter is involved in his 2024 presidential campaign).

When pressed about his unapologetic antisemitic comments, West criticized the media and repeated his claims of a Jewish-led conspiracy to ruin him. “I feel like it’s a setup … I’m going to walk the f–k off the show if I’m having to talk about. You can’t say ‘Jewish people did it,’ when every sensible person knows — that Jon Stewart knows — what happened to me, and they took it too far.”

An irate West walked out of the interview. Pool said he believed the walk-out had been staged.

Kanye West joined alt-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his InfoWars talk show on Thursday (Dec. 1), where he praised Adolf Hitler.

“Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler. How about that one,” he said.  Jones then told Ye that he has a “bit of a Hitler fetish going on,” to which the rapper replied, “It’s not a fetish. I just like information.”

“I don’t like the word ‘evil’ next to Nazis,” Ye later said, undeterred by Jones’ discomfort. “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.” Later in the interview, Ye reiterated that it’s “time to promote love” by declaring, “I do love Hitler. I do love the Zionists.”

Twitter users expressed their concern and disdain for the comments across the platform and soon enough, “Kanye” was trending on Twitter across the country.

Back in October, Ye was set to buy the right-wing friendly social network Parler after both his Twitter and Instagram accounts were suspended for antisemitic posts. However, Parler owner Parlement Techonologies announced on Thursday (Dec. 1) that the deal will no longer happen.

Parlement Technologies and Ye “mutually” parted ways, according to a statement from the company received by TechCrunch. “This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,” the statement read.

The rapper’s Twitter account was reinstated in November after the businessman purchased the social media platform and reactivated previously suspended accounts, but Ye soon lost access again. After West gave a lengthy interview on Alex Jones’ Infowars on Dec. 1 — during which he praised Hitler and said he loves Nazis — he tweeted an image of a swastika embedded into a Star of David.

Twitter deleted the message, and Musk tweeted that he was suspending the rapper’s account. “I tried my best,” he wrote. “Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.”

A day after Ye’s comments praising Hitler, President Joe Biden shared a strongly worded statement condemning antisemitism and Holocaust denialism, urging political leaders to speak out against hate speech.

“I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides,” the president tweeted. “Silence is complicity.”

Naama Studios made the announcement that they’ll remove any Ye-inspired body art for free. “Yeezy come, yeezy go,” the London-based company cleverly captioned a photo that reads, “We’ll remove your Kanye tattoos for free.”

Fans have been flooding his dedicated Reddit page r/Kanye with posts showing their appreciation for the rapper’s adversary Taylor Swift instead, in addition to educational content about the Holocaust.

YouTube is reportedly working to remove reuploaded video clips of West’s controversial interview on Alex Jones’ Infowars talk show.

NBC News reported on Dec. 3 that the platform’s parent company Google was “working to remove reuploads if the antisemitism in the interview isn’t denounced in the video via added commentary,” according to a statement from the tech giant.

The article pointed out that other social media platforms, like Twitter, had not yet stated how it would addressed the matter.

During his SiriusXM radio show on Monday (Dec. 5), Stern shared that West’s antisemitism made the alt-right conspiracy theorist Jones appear like “a bleeding heart liberal.” He added, “Alex Jones kept trying to throw him a life preserver and Kanye would just slap it away. It was pretty f—ing crazy.”

Stern also noted a “psychological theory” that he has about West. “I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks that maybe he hates being Black so much. He’s so self hating,” the radio host then explained. “He wants to wear a hood and pretend he’s a white man. A white man in the Nazi party. In a weird way despises being Black and wants to be accepted by Nazis.”

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) confirmed to Billboard that West’s honorary doctorate degree at the college — which was issued to him on May 11, 2015 — has been rescinded in light of his recent incendiary comments.

“The School of the Art Institute of Chicago condemns and repudiates Kanye West’s (now know as Ye) anti-Black, antisemitic, racist, and dangerous statements, particularly those directed at Black and Jewish communities,” the school shared in a statement. “Ye’s actions do not align with SAIC’s mission and values, and we’ve rescinded his honorary degree.”

West has been suspended from Clubhouse after the rapper began making antisemitic remarks during a private Q&A on the social networking platform.

“We took action to shut down a conversation on Saturday because it violated our policies. We also suspended those who violated the policies,” a spokesperson for Clubhouse tells Billboard. “There’s absolutely no place for bullying, hate speech or abuse on our platform as explicitly stated in our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service.”

Watchdog group StopAntisemitism has named the rapper “Antisemite of the Year” after thousands of online votes.

“Congratulations to Kanye West, disgraced rapper and fashion mogul, for being voted the 2022 Antisemite of the Year,” the nonprofit wrote in a video shared to Twitter, in which the organization recapped his hateful remarks throughout the past few months. “Mazel Tov Kanye West for propagating the most Jew hatred in 2022 and winning this year’s dishonor.”

Host Jerrod Carmichael mocked the rapper during the awards ceremony while addressing director Steven Spielberg from the stage. “I want to take out a second to shout out Steven Spielberg, who is here. It’s an honor sir. Congrats on The Fabelmans. I actually saw it with Kanye and it changed everything for him,” he said as the audience laughed. “That’s how good you are. You changed Kanye West’s mind.”

The film, which earned Spielberg — who is Jewish — the best director award, is a semi-autobiographical work about a young boy born to Jewish parents who falls in love with cinema.

Claiming that Ye had evaded all of their attempts to get in contact with him, prestigious law firm Greenberg Traurig asked a federal judge to allow them to run newspaper ads announcing they’d dropped the rapper as a client. Having “exhausted all methods” of notifying Ye of the severance with no success, the firm figured that mass advertisements might get his attention.

“Publication of the Withdrawal Order’s contents in two Los Angeles-area newspapers, where Ye appears to reside, will also apprise him of the Withdrawal Order,” his former lawyers wrote to the judge. “Given Ye’s public status, publication of the Withdrawal Order will likely garner significant media attention, resulting in broader publication and provide an even greater likelihood of apprising Ye of the Order.”

The musician had been previously represented by the firm in a copyright lawsuit that alleged he’d failed to pay for a sample he used in the track “Flowers” from his album Donda 2. Following West’s antisemitic statements, however, the firm announced publicly in October that it would withdraw: “This firm was founded by individuals who faced discrimination and many of us lost ancestors because of that kind of hate and prejudice.”

After Ye reportedly married Australian architect Bianca Censori, some organizations in Australia publicly called on Andrew Giles, the country’s Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister, to deny Ye from visiting his rumored new wife’s home country. The Australian Jewish Association published an open letter asking Giles to “refuse Kanye West a visa on character grounds,” while the Anti-Defamation Commission went public with the same request via a statement by Chairman Dr. Dvir Abramovich.

“Calling for violence and hate must have consequences, and Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger who spews threats against the Jewish community and peddles conspiracy myths about Jewish power, greed and control,” Abramovich said in a statement. “At a time of rising antisemitism in Australia and increasing vilification, his presence in the country, revolting anti-Jewish propaganda and incitement, and abhorrent rhetoric poses a significant risk to the Jewish community.”

South Park took aim at the rapper again, this time by spoofing his string of antisemitic statements. In the season 26 premiere, Cartman spread a rumor that Kyle — who is Jewish — runs Hollywood after Stan gets jealous of Kyle and Tolkien spending time together. Cartman’s Cupid Me also transformed into Cupid Ye, whispering anti-Jewish tropes into a sleeping Tolkien’s ear, and shooting the South Park Elementary students with arrows filled antisemitism instead of love.

At one point, the show even mocked Ye’s numerous masked appearances in recent media interviews, by putting Cartman behind the facial covering during his own TV hit.

The sportswear company may have cut ties with Ye in October, but it’s not letting all that product sit around and go to waste. CEO Bjorn Gulden said during a May 11 shareholders meeting that the brand had spent months trying to figure out what to do. “Burning those shoes cannot be the solution,” he said. Instead, Adidas is going to try to sell part of the remaining inventory and “donate money to the organizations that help us and were harmed by what Ye said.”

Details will be announced later.

Ozzy Osbourne expressed his displeasure with Ye on social media after the rapper’s live listening event for Vultures — West’s much-delayed and yet-to-be released album with Ty Dolla $ign — during which Ye used an unapproved sample of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

“@kanyewest ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTCTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘WAR PIG’ FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY,” Osbourne wrote on Instagram and X. “HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”

Shortly after the arrival of Vultures Vol. 1, TMZ caught up with the rapper, who told the outlet that he was near financial ruin ahead of the release of his collab album with Ty Dolla $ign. “I’ma just be honest with y’all: I was two months from going bankrupt and I put everything I had into it and we moved to Italy,” he said. “We moved to the factories and we survived. We survived through the cancellation. We back No. 1.”