Kanye West: Gap and Foot Locker remove all Yeezy merchandise

New York
CNN Business
–

As the corporate backlash against Kanye West escalated, Gap announced it was withdrawing rapper Yeezy Gap products from its stores and shutting down YeezyGap.com. In addition, Foot Locker is pulling Yeezy products from its shelves.

“Recent observations and behavior from our former partner further confirm why we are taking immediate steps to remove the Yeezy Gap product from our stores,” the retailer said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the past few weeks, retailers, social media platforms, celebrities, fashion and entertainment companies have shied away from business alliances with the West over anti-Semitic statements in podcasts and on Twitter, amid other controversial behavior.

“Anti-Semitism, racism and hatred in any form cannot be justified nor tolerated in accordance with our values. On behalf of our customers, employees, and shareholders, we partner with organizations that fight hate and discrimination,” Gap declared.

Gap’s moves come after adidas said Tuesday that the company has She ended her partnership With West, who legally changed his name to Ye, “with immediate effect.”

Also on Tuesday, a spokesperson for retailer Foot Locker

(Florida) He said that while he remains “a partner with adidas and carries a wide range of their collections – we will not be subsidizing any drops of Yeezy products in the future, and we have instructed our retail operators to withdraw any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.”

GAP Company

(GPS) Kanye West Last month They both announced that they finished a 10 years of partnership He was signed in 2020 with the fashion company Yeezy.

The first piece of Yeezy Gap was a $200 jacket, which was instantly sold out online upon launch. A few later versions of the brand, including more jackets and hoods, were also immediately sold out.

West has expanded its Yeezy Gap sale line by bringing in luxury Fashion brand Balenciaga To launch the “Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga” collection. In July, the collection began selling in Gap stores for the first time.

In mid-September, West said he had ended his partnership with Gap due to a “significant non-compliance”. Balenciaga announced last week that she had cut ties with Ye.

The rapper’s lawyer, Nicholas Gravant, said in a statement released in September that West had no choice but to end his collaboration because he alleged the retailer violated their partnership by not opening Yeezy-branded stores and distributing his clothes as originally planned, among other things. .

Gap confirmed on the same day that they have withdrawn the Yeezy partnership. But he initially said existing merchandise would continue to sell in the company’s stores and website through the first half of 2023, a decision he has now retracted.