Entertainment industry super-agent Ari Emanuel is asking businesses to stop working with Kanye West after the artist’s recent, controversial comments about Jewish people.
“Apple
AAPL,
and Spotify
SPOT,
which host West’s music, whoever organizes West’s tours, and Adidas
ADS,
which collaborates with West on his fashion line, should all stop working with him,” Emanuel, co-CEO of the media and talent agency Endeavor, wrote in a Wednesday op-ed for the Financial Times.
““Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience. There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism.””
West, who now goes by the name Ye, recently tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” His Twitter account was temporarily banned. And since the ban, the rapper said that he will buy Twitter competitor Parler, an alternative social media company popular among conservatives that is marketed as “the premier global free speech platform.”
See also: Here’s everything you need to know about Kanye West’s controversial social media platform Parler
“Silence is dangerous,” Emanuel continued in his column. “It allows forms of hatred and racism, including anti-Semitism, to spread and become normalized. It coarsens and degrades our society and country.”
Emanuel is seen as one of the most powerful and influential people in the entertainment industry. He is also a longtime Democratic donor, according to the Baltimore Sun, and was briefly considered for a position in the Trump White House. Emanuel’s talent agency at one time represented Trump during his pre-political television career.
Then President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel in Bedminster Township, New Jersey in 2016.
Getty Images
Despite the behind-the-scenes role that agents typically play, Emanuel’s rise to prominence in the entertainment industry may seem familiar. He served as an inspiration for fictional agent Ari Gold in HBO’s “Entourage” series, in fact, portrayed by actor Jeremy Piven. Emanuel is also good friends with Tesla
TSLA,
CEO Elon Musk, somebody Ye has been friendly with in recent years.
“Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience. There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism,” Emanuel continued. “This is a moment in history where the stakes are high and being open about our values, and living them, is essential. Silence and inaction are not an option.”
The Anti-Defamation League also called on Adidas — which paid Ye an estimated $220 million last year in royalties from the sale of Yeezy sneakers, according to Forbes — to drop Ye on Thursday. The ADL CEO wrote in an open letter that, “we are surprised and concerned that Adidas — a brand that supports inclusion and diversity — continues not only to support the Ye product line, but to release new products even as he continues to espouse hateful antisemitic ideas to his 31 million Twitter followers.”
Representatives for Ye, Apple, Adidas and Spotify were not immediately available for comment.
Forbes estimates that Ye’s net worth is around $2 billion, but that would drop considerably if Adidas gives him the boot.
The recent controversy surrounding Ye is not limited to his tweets. In a recent episode of the Drink Champs podcast, Ye also made false claims surrounding the death of George Floyd. Ye said that Floyd died from fentanyl use, despite the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruling Floyd’s death a homicide after former police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Chauvin was sentenced to 22½ years in prison for Floyd’s murder.
Floyd’s family later announced a $250 million lawsuit against Ye for his “flagrant” remarks.
