Balenciaga has reportedly dropped Kanye West from all current and future partnerships.
According to a report from Women's Wear Daily published on Friday (Oct. 21), Kanye West's widely publicized business relationship with Balenciaga in the fashion world has come to an abrupt end. The wildly popular designer brand is not only cutting Ye off from their present business ties, but they also say any possible plans for a future collab aren't going to happen any time soon.
"Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist," a representative for Kering, Balenciaga's parent company, told WWD as it pertains to Kanye West.
News of the high-profile business breakup follows the February launch of Kanye's Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga clothing line and comes just weeks after Ye made an appearance on a runway of mud at the unveiling of Balenciaga's Summer 2023 collection on Oct. 2. In the days following the rapper-turned-fashion designer's muddy march, Kanye West began a series of questionable actions that have found both Ye and the renowned clothing brand shrouded in controversy.
After Ye and associates such as Candace Owens and Lauryn's Hill daughter, Selah, made headlines for sporting "White Lives Matter" t-shirts at a fashion show for Kanye's Yeezy Season 9 collection on Oct. 3, the "All Falls Down" rapper-producer defended the controversial shirt, making many public comments along the way that have landed him in hot water.
Amid the heavy backlash West faced as a result of the "White Lives Matter" t-shirt, Ye said he was "going death con 3 on Jewish people," an anti-semitic rant that prompted swift and pointed responses from organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and JP Morgan Chase. Kanye West has since admitted that he has an understanding of the harm his comments caused to the Jewish community.
"You know, I will say I'm sorry for the people I hurt with the death con [statement], the confusion that I caused," Ye said in a recent interview with Piers Morgan. "I feel like I caused hurt and confusion. And I'm sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. And that I used my platform, where you say hurt people hurt people, and I was hurt."
Kanye West is also potentially facing being hit with a $250 million defamation lawsuit that the family of George Floyd says they fully intend to pursue following the Donda artist's false claims that Floyd's death in May of 2020 was caused by fentanyl usage rather than at the hands of convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin.
XXL has reached out to both Balenciaga and Kanye West's team for statements regarding the status of their partnership.