Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Fans made a gofundme to make Kanye West a Billionaire again. (Read More Here).
Kanye West spoke with paparazzi on Friday night, where he said he did not realize he was being antisemitic and apologized for falsely claiming George Floyd died from fentanyl rather than Floyd suffocating from a police officer putting a knee on his neck, which caused his death.
When the paparazzi confronted West about his antisemitic statements, he said he didn’t realize what he was saying was considered antisemitic and that after having a mediation with Adidas who has officially severed ties with the rapper, he came to some realizations and became “humbled.” In his convoluted conversation, where he seemed to be making statements and walking them back simultaneously, he added that “When I see that video as a Black person, it hurts my feelings. And I know that police do attack and America is generally racist,” he said to paparazzi, via HipHopDX. “And I understand that when we got to say Black Lives Matter, that the idea of it made us feel good together as a people, right?”
He added: “So when I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people,” he continued. “I want to apologize. Because God has showed me by what Adidas is doing, by what the media is doing, I know how it feels to have a knee on my neck now.
“So thank you God for humbling me and letting me know how it really felt. Because how could the richest Black men ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off of one comment.”
Last week, West gave a non-apology for his antisemitic remarks during an interview with Piers Morgan.
Meanwhile, the family of George Floyd is readying a $250 million lawsuit against West for his unfounded claims.
West’s controversial comments have led to a mass exodus of brands and companies that have parted ways with the rapper. Talent agency giant CAA dropped him this week, and he has been deserted by the likes of Balenciaga, and banking giant JP Morgan Chase. His total wealth dropped from a reported $2 billion to around $500 million following Adidas severing ties with him.
This slice of the shopping world is where sneakerheads, collectors, and professional resellers alike buy and sell rare or in-demand footwear through online marketplaces like StockX, GOAT, and eBay. In recent years, it’s grown into a $4 billion-plus industry in North America alone, with the potential to reach $30 billion globally by 2030, according to research firm Cowen. But the problem for the big resale players in the industry is that the market is dominated by just three brands. And one of them is Yeezy.
Nike, Jordan Brand, and Yeezy currently account for more than 90 percent of sales in the resale market, according to Cowen. And with Adidas announcing this week that it was dissolving the partnership with Ye and would no longer produce or sell Yeezy-branded goods, these online businesses that aim to fulfill every hypebeast’s desires may suddenly have to look elsewhere to diversify their businesses to keep loyal customers coming back to shop them frequently. The hype associated with new Yeezy releases isn’t what it once was, but the lack of future supply will still likely leave a huge gap.
“It’s possible there’s some short-term pop, but I think the Yeezy era could be over,” said Dylan Dittrich, the head of research at Altan Insights, which publishes information on collectible categories like sneakers, watches, and sports cards.
When Adidas announced on October 25 that it would “stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect,” finally putting the kibosh on a partnership that critics said should have happened much sooner, the resale platforms that benefit from Yeezy sneaker and clothing sales had a decision to make. But their answer soon became clear. With the exception of one smaller player in the Yeezy resale space, The RealReal, the other online marketplaces would continue to let sellers list Yeezy products and buyers purchase them. Yet none of them wanted to talk about that decision. StockX, GOAT, and eBay all failed to respond to requests for interviews or comment.
The most-popular product lists on these sites perhaps explain why. On Thursday, eight of the top 12 bestsellers on StockX were Yeezys, with the site selling thousands of Yeezy Slide sandals over the last three days alone. Dittrich, the Altan Insights research head, said prices of Yeezy Boost 350 V2s, perhaps the most recognizable sneaker model in the Yeezy portfolio, rose between 10 and 30 percent on StockX after Adidas’s announcement.
It looked like fans, collectors, and resellers were making a calculated bet that the lack of future Yeezy supply would increase the value of the artist’s existing footwear — no matter the controversy. Those prices have started to come down in the days since, but not below their pre-breakup position, Dittrich said.
In recent years, the rapper turned designer, whose legal name is now Ye, has suggested that 400 years of chattel slavery was “a choice” and sported the confederate flag as a fashion statement. He defended the likes of Bill Cosby and R. Kelly; aligned himself with controversial figures like DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, and former president Donald Trump; and spoke out in support of the MAGA movement during the height of tensions in the country.
None of these acts seemed to threaten his blossoming sneaker and apparel empire, which turned Ye into a billionaire, at least on paper. The 45-year-old, who has spoken regularly about his relationship with his late mom, his bipolar disorder, and society’s treatment of Black Americans, has never shied away from saying whatever he wants. And he also does as he pleases, whether that’s a failed 2020 presidential run or using Yeezy apparel to broadcast white supremacist messages.
But this fall, even the corporate collaborators who had long benefited from Ye’s cultural capital found themselves backed into a corner, as their cash cow plummeted them into a moral crisis. The first of his business dealings came to an end in September, when the announcement came that the Yeezy Gap 10-year-deal, said to be worth billions, was ending after only two years. (Read More Here).
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