Balenciaga Cuts Ties With Kanye, ADL Urges Adidas To Drop Him

Balenciaga has severed ties with Kanye West. According to Women’s Wear Daily, Kering, the French fashion house’s parent company, has released a statement saying, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.” No other further details were added to the statement.

The French fashion house has been distancing itself from Kanye due to his recent remarks on Drink Champs where he falsely claimed George Floyd died due to fentanyl because the cop’s knee wasn’t “on his neck like that.” Per Rolling Stone, in a since-deleted Instagram post on Oct. 17, Balenciaga issued a statement, per the outlet. “West’s runway look from Balenciaga’s Spring 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week had been deleted from Vogue Runway, as well as the Balenciaga website.”

Additionally, they also “removed a section on its website dedicated to the three Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collaborations, which launched earlier this year. Those items were also no longer available on other online retailers.”

The fashion house’s creative director Demna Gvasalia and Ye have had a relationship since 2014. The following year the company was brought on to engineer Kanye’s Gap collection.

The Anti-Defamation League is also trying to convince Adidas to drop Kanye as a collaborator due to his racist comments over the past couple of weeks.

“In light of Kanye West’s increasingly strident antisemitic remarks over the past few weeks, we were disturbed to learn that Adidas plans to continue to release new products from his Yeezy brand without any seeming acknowledgment of the controversy surrounding his most recent remarks,” the ADL letter reads per CNN. “We urge Adidas to reconsider supporting the Ye product line and to issue a statement making clear that the Adidas company and community has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism.”

Adidas announced its partnership with West in 2013. In June 2016, Adidas and West announced they had extended their partnership, calling it a “Yeezy-branded entity creating footwear, apparel and accessories for all genders across street and sport,” per Yahoo Sports.

But as of late, the rapper has blasted the global shoe brand on social media for stealing his designs. Earlier this month, Adidas issued a statement about the current status of their relationship with Ye.

“After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review. We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period,” the company said in a statement per CNBC.

Adidas has not responded to ADL’s letter as of yet.

Kanye West: 15 Songs You (Might) Have Not Known He Produced

• 1. Foxy Brown, "My Life" (1999)

  Ye produced Foxy Brown’s “My Life” which was released in 1999. The song was featured as part of the soundtrack in the 2003 hit film “Cradle 2 The Grave” starring the late DMX, Jet Li, Gabrielle Union, Anthony Anderson, and Paige Hurd.

• 2. Lil' Kim, "Don't Mess with Me" (2000)

  Lil’ Kim’s “Don’t Mess with Me” was released in 2000 from the rapper’s second studio album The Notorious K.I.M. Ye is also credited as a co-writer along with Kimberly Denise Jones (Lil’ Kim), Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie, Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade.

• 3. Mos Def feat. Faith Evans, "Brown Sugar (Fine)" (2002)

  “Brown Sugar (Fine)” is from the soundtrack of the film Brown Sugar. Mos Def plays Chris “Cavi” Vichon, a cab driver and underground rapper, and he performs the song in the film and tags Faith Evans’ angelic vocals later on the soundtrack. The song contains a sample of Norman Connor’s “Invitation” (1979).

• 4. Monica, "Knock Knock" (2003)

  Monica released “Knock Knock” in 2003 on her fourth studio album ‘Before The Storm.’ The record peaked at No.75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 24 on Billboard’s R&B chart.”Knock Knock” samples The Masqueraders’ 1976 song “It’s a Terrible Thing to Waste Your Love.”

• 5. Common – "Go!" (2005)

  “Go!” is the third single from Common’s 2005 album Be. Ye provides background vocals alongside John Mayer. Be was nominated for “Best Rap Album” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 6. Alicia Keys, "You Don't Know My Name" (2003)

  “You Don’t Know My Name” is the lead single of Alicia’s second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys , which was released in 2003. The song won a Grammy for “Best R&B Song” at the 47th Annual Grammys where the singer also picked up “Best R&B Album,” for The Diary Of Alicia Keys , “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” for “If Ain’t Got You,” and “Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals” for “My Boo” featuring Usher.

• 7. Twista, "Overnight Celebrity" (2004)

  “Overnight Celebrity” is the second single from Twista’s 2004 album Kamikaze. The song has uncredited vocals by West and violin by Miri Ben-Ari. The track samples Lenny Williams’ 1978 song “Cause I Love You.” The song received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 8. Mariah Carey, "Stay The Night" (2005)

  “Stay The Night” is from Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi, the singer’s 10th studio album, which was released in 2005.

• 9. Alicia Keys, "Unbreakable" (2005)

  Alicia Keys and Ye teamed up again on the singer’s “Unbreakable” which was released in 2005. The track was originally supposed to be a part of the R&B icon’s second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys but it ultimately did not make the cut.
  “The song was always one of my favorites, but I did not think it would fit well into my second album,” the singer said per Genius. The record draws from Eddie Kendrick’s 1977 “Intimate Friends.” “Unbreakable” was nominated for “Best R&B Song” and “Best Female Vocal R&B Vocal Performance” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 10. Lil Wayne, "Did It Before" (2007)

  “Did It Before” is from Lil Wayne’s The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions. The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions is an unofficial compilation of Lil Wayne songs that was released in 2007.

• 11. Drake, "Show Me A Good Time" (2010)

  “Show Me A Good Time” is from Drake’s 2010 album Thank Me Later. Not only did Ye produce this song but he also has a co-writing credit along with Drake, No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Ye also produced Drizzy’s “Find Your Love” which is also on the album. Thank Me Later was nominated for “Best Rap Album” at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

• 12. Justin Bieber, "Runaway Love" Remix (2011)

  The original “Runaway Love” is found on Justin Bieber’s 2010 album My World 2.0. Bieber and Ye’s collab came after Kanye tweeted his admiration of the song. He then added Wu-Tang’s Raekwon onto the project for the remix. The remix samples the beat from Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 hit “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F— Wit.”

• 13. Beyoncé, "Party" ft. André 3000 (2011)

  “Party” is from Beyoncé’s fourth studio album 4 and includes a guest appearance from André 3000. Ye also contributes background vocals to the track along with Consequence.

• 14. John Legend, "Let's Get Lifted" (2011)

  “Let’s Get Lifted” is from John Legend’s debut studio album Get Lifted. Ye who was Legend’s manager at the time, executive produced this album including “Let’s Get Lifted.” Get Lifted won “Best R&B Album”, and earned Legend another two awards, for “Best New Artist” and “Best Male R&B Vocal Performance” for his single “Ordinary People” at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

• 15. Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow, "Industry Baby" (2021)

  “Industry Baby” appears on Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero which was released in 2021. The song features a guest appearance from rapper Jack Harlow. The song debuted at No. 2 in August of 2021 then went to No.1 on the chart on the week of October 23, 2021. The track became Lil Nas X’s third No. 1 song and Harlow’s first. The song received a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.