Kanye West dropped by talent agency after anti-Semitic rant
The controversial rapper has been cut loose by his talent agency after a string of vulgar tweets in which he praised Adolf Hitler and promoted a swastika-branded T-shirt.
Kanye West has been dropped by his talent agency following a week of anti-Semitic ranting, which included the promotion of a swastika-emblazoned T-shirt and praise for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
As first reported by Rolling Stone, Daniel McCartney, a talent agent at 33&West, announced on Instagram that he would no longer represent West, citing the artist’s inflammatory statements. “Effective immediately,” McCartney wrote, “due to his harmful and hateful remarks that myself nor 33&West can stand for.”
The fallout extended beyond West’s representation. Eric Cui, chief of staff for West’s clothing brand, Yeezy, also resigned after the rapper took to X to defend his longtime collaborator, music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
“I loved working at YZY because I believed in your dream,” Cui wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “I believe in free speech … so I will use my free speech to say that violence and crimes against women and children is wrong.”
West, who has made a series of incendiary remarks in recent years, reignited controversy last week in a string of vulgar posts on X.
In them, he rescinded the apology he made in 2023 for past antisemitic statements, proclaimed himself a Nazi, and professed admiration for Adolf Hitler. “I’m never apologizing (sic) for my Jewish comments,” he wrote.
His posts also referenced Elon Musk, former President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the sheer dress worn by his wife, Australian Bianca Censori, on the Grammy Awards red carpet. “I have dominion over my wife,” he said.
The backlash intensified after West aired a commercial during the Super Bowl promoting a website that sold a single item: a $20 white T-shirt emblazoned with a black swastika.
The website, hosted on Shopify, has since been taken down. A message now appears on the page stating, “This store is unavailable.” A Shopify spokesman told The New York Times that the store “did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms, so we removed them from Shopify.”
West deactivated his X account on Monday, writing, “I’m logging out of Twitter. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip. Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention.”
In 2022, West was suspended on X after he posted a series of antisemitic tweets, including an image of a swastika inside the Star of David,
The site reinstated his account some eight months later.
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