Kanye West says he lost 2 billion dollars in a day after companies cut ties

Kanye West has responded after several big-name companies such as Adidas cut ties with him.

On Tuesday, Adidas announced via a statement on its website that the company was ending its partnership with the 45-year-old hip hop star after he made a string of “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” anti-semitic comments.

As a result of the sportswear brand’s decision to drop its deal with West, the rapper lost his status as a billionaire.

Credit: Tribune Content Agency LLC / AlamyIndeed, West’s deal with Adidas had accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth. Now that Adidas – who forged a partnership with the rapper in 2013 – has cut ties, West is worth $400 million.

In any case, the hitmaker has now responded to losing the best part of his fortune. Taking to Instagram on his apparently reinstated account, West insisted “the money is not who I am,” despite, he claims, losing “2 billion dollars in one day.”

Credit: Kanye West / InstagramIn a post captioned “Love Speech”, West wrote: “Ari Emanuel. I lost 2 billion dollars in one day. And I’m still alive. This is love speech. I still love you. God still loves you. The money is not who I am. The people is who I am.”

Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor – a holding company for talent and media agencies – has called on companies to end any deals they have with West.

In a Financial Times op-ed, he said brands that have collaborated with the rapper have a responsibility to “speak out and take action” in the wake of his offensive social media posts.

Shortly before West’s post revealing he’d lost 2 billion dollars in a day, he posted a meme featuring two photos of himself, which read: “Ye has reportedly cut ties with Kanye West.”

Adidas’ statement explaining its decision for dropping West, reads: “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

It continued: “After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy-branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”

More recently, West was “escorted” out of the Skechers corporate offices by executives at the firm after he showed up “without invitation”, the shoe company said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.