The US bank JP Morgan Chase has ended its relationship with Kanye West and his clothing brand Yeezy Inc – although the decision predates the rapper and designer’s recent controversies in which he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt and shared racist conspiracy theories in an unaired interview.
Candace Owens, the conservative US commentator whom West has associated with in recent years, shared a letter from the bank, dated 20 September, on Twitter.
The New York Times verified that the bank was ending its relationship with Yeezy LLC but would maintain the accounts until 21 November to allow sufficient time to transfer the account.
West had previously criticised JP Morgan’s leadership online and said that the bank would not give him access to the bank’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon.
West responded to the bank severing ties with him as he left an event in Nashville on 12 October. Approached by Page Six, he said: “Hey, if you call somebody out for bad business, that means you’re being antisemitic. I feel happy to have crossed the line of that idea so we can speak openly about things, like getting cancelled by a bank.”
He added that he was “the richest Black man in American history, that put $140m in JP Morgan”.
After a recent array of antisemitic comments, West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were also temporarily locked. In response to the social media restrictions, West then appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show, where portions of the interview in which he made conspiratorial remarks were edited out. The broadcast of a subsequent appearance on the LeBron James talkshow The Shop was cancelled after he reportedly used the platform to promote “hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes”.
West has also found his nine-year business relationship with Adidas under review. In September, he shared a fake New York Times front page announcing the death of the brand’s chief Kasper Rørsted. In a statement published last week, the sportswear brand said it had taken the decision “after repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation”. It did not mention West’s recent comments but said “successful partnerships are rooted in mutual respect and shared values”.
In a since-deleted post, West said the firm “stole” his designs. Earlier this week, West shared a new documentary, Last Week, which depicts him making executives from Adidas watch pornography on his phone and confronting them over the alleged theft of his work.
In September, West said he was ending his partnership with clothing brand Gap, accusing the firm of failing to honour the terms of the deal.
