Kanye West may have burned his bridges with sports giant Adidas and other designers but one Yeezy trainer owner has taken a pricey protest and let 'a stash' of his own Yeezy sneakers go up in flames — taking a stand against the rappers anti-Semitic rants.
The American sneaker owner tossed several pairs of his once beloved Yeezy's, costing an eye-watering £12,961, in to a fire pit but considered it a price worth paying as a powerful message.
The man, known only as Danny Shiff, told 7 News Miami: “I’m very much actually for free speech, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what got me going on this one is someone like Kanye West, people like him cannot use the massive platform to spread this kind of hate."
A video of Shiff burning several pairs of sneakers on a fire pit has now gone viral.
“So I thought, ‘There’s not much I can do.’ I bought 40 pairs of Yeezys, so I’m going to burn them all."
A video of Shiff burning several pairs of sneakers on a fire pit has now gone viral.
He told the outlet that he did so to "make a statement" before adding: "I’m never going to wear them again or support him again."
But the statement provoked strong reaction on social media with many saying the stunt could have been switched for a sale of the items with profits going to charity.
One person wrote: “He already has his money. Dude could have donated $40k.”
Another said: “The year is now 2040 and Yeezys are now worth 20000 per shoe.”
A third person commented: “Why pollute to prove a point. And he's already got your money. He doesn't care what you do with them now.” While another shared: “Don’t burn them to pollute the air. Give them to charity for the homeless.”
But Shiff has since shared plans for the other items in his collection, according to News12 The Bronx, worth $25,000 ( £13,949) and has decided to auction them off. All proceeds will reportedly go to help fight racism and anti-Semitism.
The one-man move comes days after the rapper’s biggest partnerships, Adidas, terminated their contract with him.
On Tuesday the sportswear giant terminated its partnership with Ye "with immediate effect" saying that it does not "tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech".
The company said Ye's recent actions had been "unacceptable, hateful and dangerous".
