Kanye West says he lost $2 billion in one day after Adidas, Balenciaga, and Gap severed ties with the rapper over his offensive behavior
Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, and Vogue decided to end their business relationships with Ye, with Adidas citing his “hateful and dangerous comments and behavior, including saying he was going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.
In an Instagram post Thursday captioned “LOVE SPEECH,” Ye appeared to address Ari Emanuel, the CEO of the media and entertainment firm Endeavor who wrote an op-ed in the Financial Times calling for music companies to cease working with Ye because of his antisemitic comments.
“I LOST 2 BILLION DOLLARS IN ONE DAY AND I’M STILL ALIVE,” Ye wrote in the post. “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.”
Before being dropped by Adidas and other companies, Ye had a net worth of about $2 billion, according to Forbes‘ estimate. Ye’s partnership with Adidas was valued at $1.5 billion, but after the retail company severed ties with the rapper, his net worth fell to $400 million, Forbes said. As a result, he dropped off Forbes’ billionaires list.
The rest of Ye’s fortune is in his music, real estate, cash, and a 5% stake in the clothing line Skims, which was cofounded by his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, Forbes reported.
The 45-year-old disputed the figures and told Forbes this year that the Adidas deal alone was valued at $4.3 billion. When Forbes published its billionaires list with Ye valued at $2 billion, he told Forbes the publication had undervalued him.
When Ye was first listed as a billionaire by Forbes, with an estimated $1 billion fortune, he said he actually had $3.3 billion to his name.
Ye’s Instagram post came hours after he was escorted out of a Skechers corporate office in Los Angeles. He visited “unannounced and without invitation,” the company told Insider in a statement. On top of this, Ye’s controversial $15,000-a-year Christian school abruptly shut its doors Thursday, Hollywood Unlocked reported.
In addition to his antisemitic tweets, Ye sparked controversy by wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words “White Lives Matter” during the Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week in early October.