Kanye West apparently tried to take his Yeezy shoe line to Sketchers and was turned away.
According to a report from TMZ this afternoon (Oct. 26), Kanye West’s burned business deal at Adidas is causing him to look elsewhere for a distributor for his wildly popular Yeezy shoe line. Earlier today, he reportedly attempted to go to Sketchers headquarters in Manhattan Beach, Calif. unannounced in hopes of pitching them on the idea of co-parenting the Yeezy brand. However, the brass at Sketchers were not trying to hear it.
Reps for Sketchers tell the celebrity news site Kanye “arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles. Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation.”
They added, “Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West. We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech. Again, West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices.”
Sketchers was founded by Robert Greenberg, who is Jewish. So, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to surmise the shoe company’s lack of a warming greeting might also have something to do with Kanye West’s recent anti-Semitic comments.
In his most recent interview, on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Kanye offered an apology and an explanation for the anti-Semitic rhetoric he’s been spewing online and in interviews.
It might be too little, too late for Ye as several companies have already cut ties with the rapper.
XXL has reached out to Kanye West’s team and Sketchers for comment.
