Kanye West escorted out of Skechers offices in LA after 'unauthorized' visit, company says
Kanye West, the rapper now legally known as Ye, made an "unauthorized" visit to the Los Angeles offices of Skechers in the wake of a firestorm over his antisemitic remarks, which led to Adidas terminating its relationship with the hip-hop mogul this week.
Skechers announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon that West "arrived unannounced and without invitation," and after engaging in "unauthorized filming," the rapper was escorted off the premises by two Skechers executives.
"Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West," the statement said. "We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech."
Skechers is the latest brand to speak out against Ye after he made a series of antisemitic remarks on social media that resulted in his accounts being restricted by Instagram and Twitter.
Amid mounting pressure to break ties with the rapper, Adidas announced on Tuesday that it is terminating its relationship with Ye and will cease production of Yeezy branded products.
"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," the company said in a press release. "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."
Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency, also known as CAA, announced Monday that it would no longer represent the rapper. ABC News has reached out to Ye's camp, but it is unclear who is currently representing the rapper.
The latest backlash began after the rapper posted an offensive tweet on Oct. 8 targeting the Jewish community, which involved a reference to the defense readiness alert used by the U.S. armed forces.
"The funny thing is I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda," he wrote in the now-deleted post.
A message on Ye's page shows that Twitter removed the tweet, saying it violated the company's rules.
The rapper doubled down on his comments and made additional offensive remarks targeting the Jewish community in a since-deleted interview on Revolt TV's "Drink Champs."
Film and television studio MRC shelved a documentary on West, saying in a statement that it "cannot support any content that amplifies his platform."
Balenciaga and Vogue have also reportedly broken ties with the designer and fashion mogul, while Gap, which announced in September that it is ending its Yeezy Gap partnership, denounced West's comments in a statement on Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase terminated its business relationship with the rapper prior to his recent antisemitic comments.
Ye, who has become known for making provocative political statements, is no stranger to controversy. From endorsing former President Donald Trump in 2016 and his own controversial presidential run in 2020, to wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt with Candace Owens at his Yeezy Season 9 show in Paris, the rapper has prompted criticism from social justice advocates and many in the Black community, including some of his friends in the hip-hop community.
ABC News' Teddy Grant contributed to this report.
