Entertainment

Kanye West escorted from Skechers’ LA office after arriving ‘uninvited’

This comes after Adidas ended their partnership with West and him dropping off the Forbes billionaire list following controversial remarks.
This comes after Adidas ended their partnership with West and him dropping off the Forbes billionaire list following controversial remarks.

Kanye West was escorted from Skechers’ corporate office in Los Angeles after arriving “unannounced and uninvited”, according to the shoe brand.

The company said the US rapper, who has legally changed his name to Ye, and his party were made to leave the premises as he was “engaged in unauthorised filming”.

Skechers added that it has “no intention” of working with the 45-year-old and condemned his “recent divisive remarks”.

It is the latest in a string of incidents that have seen the rapper fall from public grace after he made antisemitic comments on social media, including Adidas ending their partnerships with West and him dropping off the Forbes billionaire list.

In a statement, Skechers said: “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 unauthorised 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.”

On Tuesday, Adidas said it was ending production of the Yeezy-branded products, a fashion collaboration with West, with “immediate effect”.

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

“After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”

The 92nd Academy Awards – Vanity Fair Party – Los Angeles
The shoe brand said the US rapper was made to leave the premises as he was ‘engaged in unauthorised filming’ (Ian West/PA)

The severing of these ties caused West to lose his spot on the Forbes billionaires’ list as the contract with the German sportswear company accounted for around 1.5 billion dollars (£1.3 billion), according to the US business magazine.

Earlier this year he was ranked number 1,513 on Forbes’ rich list, valued at two billion dollars (£1.5 billion) due to his lucrative fashion brands and a multi-year deal to design his trainer brand Yeezy for Adidas.

Forbes now estimates that West’s value is 400 million dollars (£349 million) – stemming from “real estate, cash, his music catalogue, and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims”.

A completed documentary about West has also been shelved and he was dropped by talent agency CAA over his remarks.

The Balenciaga fashion house also cut ties with Ye last week, according to reports.

On Wednesday, Madame Tussauds in London said that it had moved its wax figure of West from public view and into the museum’s archive.

West has long been an outspoken figure and was criticised earlier this month for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to the showing of his latest collection at Paris Fashion Week.

In the last few days, his Kim Kardashian and members of her family have called for an end to the “terrible violence and hateful rhetoric” towards the Jewish community.

Following his comments, demonstrators in Los Angeles unfurled banners on an overpass on Sunday, praising West for his antisemitic public statements.

The rapper is also in the process of buying alternative messaging platform Parler.

The site has styled itself as an unbiased platform and has become popular with those banned from Twitter, also hosting prominent American conservative voices.

West previously revealed he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which is described as a mental health condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to another, according to the NHS website.

His mother, Donda West, died in 2007 aged 58 following complications from cosmetic surgery and her death is said to have had a devastating impact on the rapper.

West made his first foray into the music industry in the early 2000s, having been a producer for Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records.

He went on to produce some of the biggest hits of the last 20 years but has repeatedly courted controversy during his time in the public eye.

The rapper married Kardashian in 2014, with the reality TV star filing for divorce in February 2021.

They share four children together: North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, three.