- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Kanye says lost $2bn over anti-Semitic rants
Kanye West lost $2 billion in a single day, he said Thursday, as business partners rushed to dump the rapper in the wake of a series of anti-Semitic outbursts.
The music and fashion mogul has seen lucrative commercial tie-ups shelved as companies including Adidas and Gap took fright at comments dubbed hate speech by activists.
"I lost 2 billion dollars in one day. And I’m still alive. This is love speech," West, who is also known as Ye, wrote on Instagram in a post that had been liked over a million times.
"I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people is who I am," the post said, naming Emanuel Ari, the CEO of entertainment company Endeavor, who had urged companies to sever ties with the rapper.
German sportswear giant Adidas said Tuesday it was ending its partnership with West after his "unacceptable, hateful and dangerous" comments.
Adidas also said it would end production of the highly successful "Yeezy" line designed together with West and "stop all payments to Ye and his companies".
The move is expected to lop around a quarter of a billion dollars off Adidas's bottom line this year alone.
West, who is open about his struggles with bipolar disorder, has long been outspoken, having half-heartedly run for US president in 2020 and then thrown his weight behind Donald Trump.
His willingness to go beyond the pale is a double-edged sword for business partners, who have benefited from his high profile and his frequent media appearances, but who risk being tarnished by association.
While they weathered previous comments, including when West called slavery a "choice", things began to unravel this month with his appearance at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt emblazoned "White Lives Matter", a slogan created as a backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Days later he was temporarily locked out of Twitter and Instagram for threatening to "Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE", using a misspelled reference to US military readiness.
That sparked alarm, including apparently from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, who wrote on social media "Hate speech is never OK or excusable," in posts that did not name West.
Last weekend a banner was hoisted over a busy Los Angeles freeway that read "Kanye is right about the Jews" and "Honk if you know." Several people were photographed making "Heil Hitler" salutes.
- Escorted out -
Adidas's announcement was followed hours later by US company Gap, which said it was taking "immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap product from our stores" in addition to shutting down YeezyGap.com.
Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga also ended ties with the rapper last week, saying it "no longer (has) any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist".
One of Hollywood's biggest talent agencies, CAA, said it was dropping West, while film and TV producer MRC said it was shelving an already-finished documentary about the artist.
On Wednesday, West was escorted out of the corporate offices of shoe company Skechers in Los Angeles after showing up uninvited with a film crew, the firm said.
H.E.Young--AMWN