After making a series of overtly anti-Semitic remarks in recent weeks, rapper Kanye West has faced significant backlash, losing hundreds of millions of dollars in product endorsements, royalties, and other fees as multiple stores and services remove his products.
Retailers have discontinued the rapper’s Yeezy-brand apparel. Foot Locker, The RealReal, The Gap, Balenciaga, and other businesses also pulled Kanye’s products from their shelves.
Last week it was reported that Goodwill stores are currently reviewing whether they should join the pig pile and remove Kanye’s Yeezy products from their stores as well.
When you even lose charity clothing stores, you know it’s bad.
In a statement to Breitbart News, Goodwill explained that since its 155 locations put a high value on “diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” it would not tolerate “any kind of hate speech against anyone.”
Goodwill is going to allow each of its locations to “independently” review whether the store has any Yeezy-brand merchandise on its shelves and determine “the most responsible course of action that aligns with the values” of the organization as a whole and its mission.
Goodwill reportedly sent a memo to its stores explaining that it removed brands that don’t align with its mission and RISE (Respect, Integrity, Service, and Excellence) values. It suggested in the memo that Kanye’s Yeezy-brand products be removed from both store locations and online shopping.
Kanye has also been dropped by Creative Arts Agency, one of the largest talent agencies in the world, over his remarks. Film and television studio MRC Entertainment put on hold a planned Kanye documentary. And shoe-maker Adidas announced that it ended its partnership with Kanye, which alone is estimated to be worth over $500 million in royalty payments and other fees.
Music streaming service Apple Music yanked Kanye West Essentials Playlist. But so far, streaming service Spotify hasn’t dropped Kanye’s catalog with CEO Daniel Ek telling Reuters that Spotify would only remove Kanye if his record label asks them to.
