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There may not be a man on this planet who enjoys the spotlight more than Kanye West.

Or Kanye. Or Ye. Or whatever he’s calling himself these days.

I watched the extensive Jeen-Yuhs series on Netflix and couldn’t help but appreciate the hustle it took for him to rise to the very top. However, over the past few years, the world has watched on as he has very publicly suffered meltdown after meltdown.

Taking potshots at your ex is one thing. Saying you’ll go “death con 3 on Jewish people” is quite another, and patience has finally run thin with many of the biggest brands he was formerly aligned with.

As a result of these brands jumping ship, Kanye can kiss his spot on the Forbes Billionaires’ list goodbye:

“I can say antisemitic s—- and Adidas cannot drop me,” said the rapper, who legally now goes by the name “Ye,” on the Drink Champs podcast earlier this month. Ye, who had worked with Adidas since 2013 on his Yeezy line of super-expensive, super-popular sneakers, thought he was untouchable.

Image: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

After all, Adidas gets an estimated 4% to 8% of its sales from Yeezy products, according to investment bank Cowen. For Ye, it was an even bigger deal, accounting for $1.5 billion of his net worth.

Even a brand with ties to Nazi Germany back in the day couldn’t stomach his rhetoric and yesterday announced it had ended its partnership with the musician.

In recent weeks, Gap, JPMorgan, and Balenciaga have also cut ties.

The most lucrative deal to go up in smoke, Adidas’ decision is the cherry on top of what can be described as a dramatic and entirely self-induced downfall for one of the loudest personalities to ever crack a spot on a Forbes magazine cover.

Without Adidas, Ye is worth $400 million. The remainder of Ye’s fortune, Forbes estimates, comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims.

Much like a certain former US president, Kanye constantly complained that Forbes was actually undervaluing his net worth.

When the outlet first declared him a billionaire in 2020, he responded by saying he was worth more than three times that amount.

Talent agency CAA has also dumped him and his sports agency company, Donda Sports, is also haemorrhaging big-name clients.

You can call it cancel culture if you’d like. I’ll call it being held accountable for your actions.

[source:forbes]