Balenciaga Has Cut Ties With Kanye West In The Aftermath Of His Anti-Semitic Tirade

The biggest lesson Kanye West should take from this year is “If you don’t have anything nice to say, shut the hell up.” Or however that old saying goes, but in Kanye’s case, the words needed to be remixed. And speaking of remixes, there are tons of folks who are removing themselves from their track record of relationships with Kanye, both in his personal and professional life. And now, one of the relationships he cherished more than his ill-fated marriage to Kim is also cutting their ties to escape Kanye’s crazy capers. After Kanye’s antisemitic tirade, Balenciaga is strapping on a pair of its overpriced sneakers and running straight towards the exit, with no plans of ever coming back.

Rolling Stone reports the longstanding relationship between Balenciaga and Kanye is officially over. And it really comes as no surprise since Kanye has become the Titanic of the industry and is going down faster than Jack after Rose let him sink to the bottom of the ocean. But Balenciaga has made no promises to never let go. Instead, they have decided Kanye is no longer good for business, with their brand bidding him a fond “adios loco!” and focusing on never re-igniting a partnership with him EVER again.

Following its third-quarter earnings report Thursday, the fashion label’s parent company Kering said in a statement to WWD, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.”

Balenciaga began distancing itself from West following his controversial appearance on the podcast Drink Champs released last week, where he falsely claimed that George Floyd wasn’t murdered but killed by fentanyl and made even more antisemitic remarks. On Oct. 17, the fashion giant issued a statement saying 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, Balenciaga said it had 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.

Just in case you’re keeping track of all the endorsements he’s lost, please stop. You’ll never be able to count that high. But Balenciaga can now be added to the list of companies, like JP Morgan Chase and Gap, that are no longer associated with Kanye. I’m sure they’ve graciously welcomed Balenciaga into the club with a cake that reads “It’s A Celebration BITCHES!” because never having to deal with Kanye’s brand of crazy is definitely a move in the right direction.

Pic: INSTARImages