Kanye ‘Ye’ West dropped by talent agency over antisemitic rant

Kanye ‘Ye’ West has been dropped by his talent agency following a series of homophobic and antisemitic rants on the social media platform X.

The 47-year-old rapper has been in the headlines non-stop lately for his controversial and attention-seeking antics, ranging from perceived “controlling behaviour” towards his wife Bianca Censori, to selling Swastika t-shirts on his retail website Yeezy, which has since been taken down.

Last week, the rapper launched a slew of hateful attacks against Jewish people on X, saying: “You can get money with Jewish people but they always gonna steal” and “I’m a Nazi … I love Hitler.”

West has a long history of antisemitic remarks, having previously said he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people … You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” This led to the sportswear brand Adidas ending their lucrative ‘Yeezy’ partnership and a global backlash that tarnished the star’s image.

Despite issuing an apology in 2023, West has now revoked it: “I’m never apologising for my Jewish comments. I can say whatever the fuck I wanna say forever. Wheres my fucking apology for freezing my accounts?”

In response, West’s talent agency, 33 & West, removed him from their directory on Monday. In a statement, founder Daniel McCartney said that his working relationship with West was over “due to his harmful and hateful remarks that myself nor 33 & West can stand for”.

X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, did not take West’s posts down, only limiting his account when the rapper began sharing links to pornographic content. “Given what he has posted, his account is now classified as NSFW [not safe for work],” Musk said. “You should not be seeing that any more.”

West has now deactivated his X account, saying: “I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent.”

Swastika scandal

But it doesn’t end there. During a 30-second Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, West also shared a link to his ‘Yeezy’ fashion company that included t-shirts emblazoned with a swastika.

Shopify, the online retail platform that hosts the website, has now taken it offline, stating: “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms.”

As of Tuesday, a former staff member of West’s company is also suing him for alleged wrongful termination, along with gender and religious discrimination. The plaintiff, a Jewish woman anonymised as Jane Doe, alleges that West fired her after sending her a text message that read “Hail [sic] Hitler”.

Lawyer Carney Shegerian, who is representing the woman’s case, described “a relentless and deliberate campaign of antisemitism and misogyny” from West.

These events follow West’s controversial red carpet appearance at the Grammy Awards, in which his wife Bianca Censori removed her coat to reveal a completely see-through dress, leaving her naked to the eye. This, along with West’s history of controlling behaviour towards women, sparked concerns for Censori’s welfare – seemingly confirmed by West writing on X: “I have dominion over my wife.”

The rapper also recently revealed on The Download podcast that he was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and actually has autism.

West has not yet commented on the lawsuit against him, or being dropped by his talent agency and Shopify.