20 votes

Adidas ends partnership with Ye [Kanye West] over antisemitic remarks

14 comments

  1. [2]
    balooga
    Link
    "The thing about me and Adidas is, like, I can literally say anti-Semitic shit and they can't drop me. I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can't drop me. Now what?" Surprise, surprise.
    20 votes
    1. Thrabalen
      Link Parent
      "Reporting to you live, here on day 11 of the "and find out" phase of the conflict."

      "Reporting to you live, here on day 11 of the "and find out" phase of the conflict."

      13 votes
  2. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    Matt Levine on the accounting: [...]

    Matt Levine on the accounting:

    There comes a point in the life of an enormous celebrity where you switch over between these calculation methods. You record an album, you get paid a million dollars for it, you say “I’m a millionaire.” You do a collaboration with a clothing line, they pay you $10 million for it, you’re like “sweet now I have $10 million.” You sign a contract with a sneaker company to pay you $100 million a year, you’re like “sweet $100 million,” and Forbes shows up and says “nope, wrong, now you’re a billionaire.” That $100 million got deposited in your bank account, but now you are a business,[5] and so you’re valued at 12 times earnings or whatever. That contract makes you worth $1.2 billion. Congratulations!

    Also though if that contract gets canceled, the number in your bank account does not go down, yet you lose a billion dollars.

    Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has made a lot of money — hundreds of millions of dollars — in his career in music and fashion, but he also stood to make a lot of future money in that business, so by the rules of this game he was a billionaire. And then he got really into anti-Semitism, which zeroed a lot of those future earnings, which made him not a billionaire anymore.

    [...]

    A few weeks ago he had $122 million in the bank and was a billionaire; today he has $122 million in the bank and is not.

    16 votes
    1. Adys
      Link Parent
      This type of stuff is why I love finance. Same comment as here.

      This type of stuff is why I love finance. Same comment as here.

      1 vote
  3. shiruken
    Link
    Reuters

    Yeezy generates about $1.47 billion in annual sales for Adidas, making up a little over 7% of its total revenue.

    Reuters

    12 votes
  4. [3]
    lou
    (edited )
    Link
    Most conspiracy theorists, when given free rein, and especially when mentally ill, will eventually arrive at antisemitism regardless of their ideology. Ones will say that Jews are part of a...

    Most conspiracy theorists, when given free rein, and especially when mentally ill, will eventually arrive at antisemitism regardless of their ideology. Ones will say that Jews are part of a Marxist coalition, others, that they control the world's economy. Maybe they're Illuminati, or reptile alliens.

    Umberto Eco has a great analysis where he draws direct connections between Nazi antisemitism and conspiracy theories about the inexistent Elders of Zion.

    Kanye West's recent turn reminds me of Bobby Fischer, another genius in his field that was consumed by mental illness, conspiracy theories, and antisemitism.

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      imperialismus
      Link Parent
      I thought of that as well. The wild thing about Fischer's antisemitism is he was a Jew. And not in the sense of "Hitler may have had a Jewish ancestor somewhere back in the family tree". Fischer's...

      Kanye West's recent turn reminds me of Bobby Fischer, another genius in his field that was consumed by mental illness, conspiracy theories, and antisemitism.

      I thought of that as well. The wild thing about Fischer's antisemitism is he was a Jew. And not in the sense of "Hitler may have had a Jewish ancestor somewhere back in the family tree". Fischer's mother was Jewish, as was his (likely) biological father. It reminds me of closeted gay people who go all out on the homophobia to prove how totally straight they are.

      6 votes
      1. lou
        Link Parent
        I guess it is logical for the deranged to act against their own self-interest. And I use the word "deranged" to make it clear that I'm not talking about mental illness. That's another kind of crazy.

        I guess it is logical for the deranged to act against their own self-interest. And I use the word "deranged" to make it clear that I'm not talking about mental illness. That's another kind of crazy.

        1 vote
  5. FishFingus
    (edited )
    Link
    Aaaaand he's been escorted out of Skechers HQ by execs after showing up unannounced.

    Aaaaand he's been escorted out of Skechers HQ by execs after showing up unannounced.

    7 votes
  6. [4]
    babypuncher
    Link
    I love watching Kanye West lose things. He lost his wife, and now he's losing his business. Unfortunately Kanye West is still a rich man. I won't be happy until he loses everything.

    I love watching Kanye West lose things. He lost his wife, and now he's losing his business. Unfortunately Kanye West is still a rich man. I won't be happy until he loses everything.

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      Odysseus
      Link Parent
      did..Kanye West do something to you specifically? I don't really care what happens to Kanye either way, but that seems a bit much.

      did..Kanye West do something to you specifically? I don't really care what happens to Kanye either way, but that seems a bit much.

      11 votes
      1. babypuncher
        Link Parent
        I don't have to be Jewish to be mortified by the way he is using his wealth and social influence to spread antisemitic hate speech.

        I don't have to be Jewish to be mortified by the way he is using his wealth and social influence to spread antisemitic hate speech.

        5 votes
      2. Thrabalen
        Link Parent
        Someone doesn't have to do something to me specifically for me to recognize that they're a terrible person and should Find Out. Attacking the same people that the most reprehensible people in...

        Someone doesn't have to do something to me specifically for me to recognize that they're a terrible person and should Find Out. Attacking the same people that the most reprehensible people in history have attacked is enough for me.

        4 votes