'Anti-Semitic Remarks' Kanye West Dropped from Billionaire List Amid Multiple Contract Terminations

Net Worth Plummets to $400 Million After Ending Contract with Adidas
Hollywood Agencies and Fashion Brands Turn Their Backs One After Another

American hip-hop star Kanye West, who caused controversy with anti-Semitic remarks. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] American famous rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West), who has been criticized for anti-Semitic remarks, has suffered the humiliation of being removed from the billionaire list.

Forbes announced on the 26th (local time) that German sports brand Adidas has terminated its business contract with Ye, causing his net worth to plummet to $400 million (560 billion KRW), and accordingly, Ye has been excluded from the billionaire list.

Adidas, which has partnered with Ye since 2013 and sold high-end brand sneakers called "Yeezy," announced the suspension of the "Yeezy brand" business in collaboration with him, criticizing his anti-Jewish remarks the day before.

Forbes estimated the decrease in Ye's net worth due to the termination of the contract with Adidas at $1.5 billion (2.13 trillion KRW). It explained, "Because the profitable contract with Adidas has ended, he can no longer appear on the billionaire list."

In addition, Hollywood talent agencies and fashion brands have successively severed ties with Ye. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a major American talent agency that has been with Ye since 2016, terminated its contract with him last month, and Hollywood film and television production company Media Rights Capital (MRC) recently decided not to distribute a documentary about Ye that it had completed producing. French fashion company Balenciaga also announced the termination of its partnership with him.

Ye's sports agency "Donda Sports" is also being affected. Star athletes affiliated with the agency are successively terminating their contracts. Aaron Donald of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Jaylen Brown of the NBA's Boston Celtics declared their withdrawal from Donda Sports, stating, "We oppose anti-Semitism and hate speech."

Meanwhile, on the 8th, Ye posted on Twitter, "I will impose 'Death Con 3' on the Jews." This was interpreted as a hateful remark, playing on "DEFCON," the U.S. military defense readiness condition, by substituting "death" for "def." Twitter deleted this post. Then, over the past weekend, he said, "I can talk about anti-Semitism, and Adidas cannot reject me. What are they going to do?" which further fueled the controversy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.