‘The money is not who I am’: Kanye West says he lost $2 billion in a day as he returns to Instagram and pokes fun at backlash over his anti-Semitic rants
- The rapper, 45, returned to social media after his accounts were restricted
- He said ‘money is not who I am’ as he detailed backlash over anti-Semitism row
- Ye insisted he ‘still loves’ Ari Emanuel after the agent called for a West boycott
Kanye West has claimed he lost $2 billion in a single day as companies have continued to sever ties the rapper following his anti-Semitic remarks.
The rapper, 45, returned to Instagram on Thursday after his account was restricted earlier this month following his series of shocking posts.
Discussing the backlash, West – known legally as Ye – insisted that ‘money is not who I am’ as he penned a ‘love letter’ to Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel, who had called for West to be dropped by all major brands.
In a post captioned ‘LOVE SPEECH’, he penned: ‘Ari Emanuel, I lost 2 billion dollars in one day and I’m still alive. This is love speech. I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people is who I am.’
Backlash: Kanye West has claimed he lost $2 billion in a single day as companies have continued to sever ties the rapper following his anti-Semitic remarks (pictured in May)
In an op-ed for the Financial Times, Endeavor co-CEO Emanuel wrote that there should be ‘no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism’ and encouraged brands to full-stop cease partnering and working with the designer.
‘Apple and Spotify, which host West’s music, whoever organizes West’s tours, and Adidas, which collaborates with West on his fashion line, should all stop working with him,’ wrote Emanuel – essentially calling for a blacklisting.
‘Silence is dangerous,’ continued Emanuel. ‘It allows forms of hatred and racism, including anti-Semitism, to spread and become normalized. It coarsens and degrades our society and country.’
Emanuel, himself Jewish, is widely considered to be one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry. West has repeatedly blamed the ‘Jewish media’ and ‘Jewish community’ in the music industry for toying with him.
Making a comeback: The rapper, 45, returned to Instagram on Thursday after his account was restricted earlier this month following his series of shocking posts (pictured in 2018)
West poked fun at the backlash on Thursday as he posted a fake news headline that read: ‘Ye Has Reportedly Cut Ties With Kanye West,’ adding in the caption: ‘Had to cut ties bro.’
Rapper 50 Cent – real name Curtis Jackson – then posted his own version of the joke, informing the world that ‘Curtis Jackson has reportedly cut ties with 50 Cent.’
He captioned the post: ‘I’m getting rid of anybody who can get me fvcked up like kanye right now ! LOL.’
West then deleted his original post and shared 50 Cent’s meme while requesting they join forces to bring his Donda Academy to Houston, Texas, where 50 Cent resides.
‘We got Donda school designs we need to build with 50 in Houston,’ he penned.
Return: Discussing the backlash, West – known legally as Ye – insisted that ‘money is not who I am’ as he penned a ‘love letter’ to Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel
Backlash: Super-agent Ari Emmanuel encouraged all major brands to stop working with West in an op-ed on account of his recent tirade against Jewish people, particularly those in media
Confusion has reigned at West’s school after the principal said it was closing permanently, only to email parents hours later to say classes would continue.
Reports then emerged that the teachers had quit – following the string of controversial and antisemitic rants its founder has made in recent weeks.
How much is Kanye really worth?
Forbes estimate that Kanye is worth around $2billion, with DailyMail.com breaking down his individual deals:
ADIDAS – $1.5billion
West’s deal with Adidas was the crowning jewel of his fortune, with sales climbing to $1.7billion in 2020 – earning him $191 million in royalties.
Forbes estimates that the Yeezy business with Adidas is worth $1.5billion, and the company confirmed that they were likely to lose up to $250million of their net income in 2022 as a result of the split.
GAP X BALENCIAGA – $970million
His GAP collection was estimated at around $970million when the deal was announced in 2021, but he has since terminated his work with the retailer.
Initial products sold out in 2021, after being announced in June 2020, in a partnership which was expected to last for ten years but was cut short by West.
GAP were also part of a deal between Yeezy and Balenciaga, with estimates claiming they would bring in $1billion in projected sales.
SKIMS – $160million
West, who divorced Kim Kardashian in 2020, remains a partner in Skims but it is unclear how much he earns from that.
He previously ranted about owning 5 percent of the business, which is estimated at a $3.2billion net worth.
If that is the case then he would have a $160million stake in the company.
MUSIC – $90million
He has sold over 140 million albums worldwide, and documents seen by Forbes show that his own recorded music and publishing rights is worth at least $90million.
Between mortgages, advances and other liabilities, Forbes say West owes about $100 million.
It was not clear how many teachers had quit, and how many remained, but the chaos comes amid an implosion of West’s business empire following his tweets.
Donda Academy, in California’s Simi Valley, is highly secretive, with parents signing a non-disclosure agreement to keep the school’s location secret and agreeing to say nothing about it.
There are believed to be around 100 students from pre-K to 12th grade paying $15,000 a year, and 16 teachers.
Meanwhile, West’s empire has continued to crumble around his anti-semitic behavior, which has included repeated claims of ‘Jewish people’ in the media conspiring against him, and planned parenthood controlling black populations through genocidal abortions.
This week Adidas dropped his Yeezy shoe line – a deal which was worth $1.5billion – with Gap, Footlocker, TJ Maxx, and Balenciaga all following suit and cutting ties with the rapper.
The rapper was embarrassingly escorted out of Skechers headquarters on Wednesday after showing up unannounced to pitch his Yeezy brand a day after being dropped by Adidas and having his songs banned by Peloton.
Skechers representatives said in a statement: ‘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 anti-Semitism 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.’
West may have faced additional opposition if he had gotten a preapproved sit-down meeting with Skechers executives as the CEO Robert Greenberg and current President Michael Greenberg are both Jewish.
The rapper’s removal from the shoe brand’s office comes mere hours after Adidas announced that it will continue to sell Yeezy products while removing the rapper’s moniker.
Management said that they will sell the items under their own brand at the beginning of 2023, according to analysts.
Adidas broke off their deal with Ye on Tuesday after pressure from fans over the rapper and designer’s recent anti-Semitic comments.
It ended the lucrative partnership, which included royalty payments and other fees.
‘I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me,’ Ye had previously stated.
Since other similar remarks across social media, including a tweet declaring he would go ‘death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,’ Ye has lost a string of high profile partnerships.
Playful: West poked fun at the backlash on Thursday as he posted a fake news headline saying that he would be cutting ties with himself
Sharing: Rapper 50 Cent – real name Curtis Jackson – then posted his own version of the joke, with West reposting it and saying they should work together on a school
Footwear retailer Foot Locker said they would ‘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.’
Even auction house Christie’s which was handling the private sale of a rare Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototype worn by West to the 2008 Grammy’s is no longer proceeding with the sale.
The termination of the Adidas deal has knocked Ye out of the billionaire ranks, according to wealth tracker Forbes.
Ye is now worth a comparatively paltry sum of $400 million, which Forbes estimates comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog, and a five percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims.
But as corporations around the world break off deals with Ye, music streaming service Spotify said it would not remove the rapper’s music unless his label requested it.
Kanye wanted to call his 2018 album HITLER
Sources close to the now disgraced rapper told CNN how Kanye West was ‘obsessed’ with Hitler and even wanted to name his 2018 hit album after the fascist leader — before ultimately releasing it under the name ‘Ye.’ It is unclear why he changed his mind.
‘He would praise Hitler by saying how incredible it was that he was able to accumulate so much power, and would talk about all the great things he and the Nazi Party achieved for the German people,’ a former business executive said.
The unnamed source claimed that people in West’s inner circle were ‘fully aware’ of his interest in Hitler, as he would speak openly about reading Mein Kampf, Hitler’s 1925 manifesto, and expressed his ‘admiration’ for the Nazis for their propaganda.
As a result, the business executive said, West created a hostile work environment, leading him to ultimately quit.
He is said to have reached a settlement with Ye and some of his companies over workplace complaints, including harassment, and asked not to be named due to a confidentiality agreement and fear of retribution.
As part of the agreement, CNN reports, West denied the accusations against him.
Recent anti-Semitic remarks made by the rapper are ‘just awful comments,’ and would have warranted removal from Spotify for violating its policies if they had been on a podcast or recording, Spotify chief Daniel Ek said.
However, music from the artist now known as Ye does not violate anti-hate policies, and any anti-Semitic comments he has made cannot be found on the music streaming platform.
‘It’s really just his music, and his music doesn’t violate our policy,’ said Ek, adding, ‘It’s up to his label, if they want to take action or not.’
It emerged on Monday that the rapper was dropped by Camille Vasquez, the attorney who defended Johnny Depp in the Amber Heard defamation trial, as well as top talent agency CAA.
A source for The New York Post claimed: ‘After Ye doubled down [on anti-Semitic comments] this weekend, Camille dropped him. The firm still wanted to make it work but on the condition he retract, he wouldn’t – so he fired them.’
CAA had cut ties with Ye at some point in the past month, according to the LA Times, after he made the anti-Semitic remarks.
Meanwhile, production studio MRC also announced on Monday they are shelving a documentary they made about the rapper.
MRC studio executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu, and Scott Tenley announced in a memo Monday: ‘We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.’
On Monday, Ye seemingly doubled down on anti-Semitic rhetoric in a two-hour-and-26-minute interview with podcast host Lex Fridman, a Russian-American computer scientist who is also Jewish.
Ye blamed Jewish people for his mental health problems and claimed Jews ‘control the media.’
He told Fridman: ‘We are still in the Holocaust. A Jewish friend of mine said, ”Go visit the Holocaust Museum,” and my response was, let’s visit our Holocaust Museum: Planned Parenthood.
‘Fifty percent today of … black people’s deaths today is abortion.
‘It’s not racism; that’s too wide of a term. It’s genocide and population control that black people are in today in America, that is promoted by the music and the media that black people make, that Jewish record labels get paid off of.’
Axed: West’s empire has continued to crumble around his anti-semitic behavior and this week Adidas dropped his Yeezy shoe line – a deal which was worth $1.5billion
Fridman challenged Ye on his claim of Jewish control of media and industry.
‘I grew up in the Soviet Union,’ Fridman said.
‘I’m Jewish, parts of my family perished in the Holocaust of Nazi Germany, I have to push back. When you say ”Jewish media,” there’s an echo of a pain that people feel.’
The rapper replied: ‘You’re saying it’s redundant, right. If Jewish people would accept that I’m a Jew, they’d hear it in a different way.’
Fridman said: ‘The right thing is not to say there’s Jewish control of the media.’
Ye yelled: ‘That’s incorrect though! That’s a f****** lie. There is. And they did come and bully me and proved the point.’
He claimed his own mental health disorder was the result of a Jewish conspiracy.
‘There was a Jewish trainer that brought me to the hospital, and put in [the] press that I went to the hospital. A Jewish doctor that diagnosed me.’
Fridman replied: ‘Why do you keep saying Jewish?’
Ye said: ‘Because they were. Diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and shot me with medication. Then put it in the press.’
Since his remarks, the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles has been flooded with anti-Semitic abuse.
Budget: Ye is now worth $400 million, which Forbes estimates comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog, and a five percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims
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