Kanye West drops off Forbes billionaires list after Adidas ends partnership – with Spotify joining list of companies condemning him
Kanye West has fallen off the list of the world’s richest billionaires compiled by Forbes after Adidas cut ties with him over antisemitic comments he made on social media.
The artist, who legally changed his name to Ye and was ranked number 1513 on Forbes’ rich list earlier this year, had a multi-year deal to design his trainer brand Yeezy for the German sportswear company.
However, the company announced on Tuesday that it would end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to him and his companies with “immediate effect” due to “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” hate speech from the artist.
The rapper’s lucrative contract with Adidas accounted for $1.5bn (£1.3bn) of his net worth, according to Forbes.
“With that gone, Ye is no longer a billionaire,” said the American business magazine.
“It caps a stunning, self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages.”
Forbes estimates West’s current net worth to be around $400m (£346m) – down from $2bn (£1.7bn).
“Losing Adidas was the final nail in Ye’s net-worth coffin”, said Forbes, adding: “Now the road has ended.”
Spotify joins the condemnation bandwagon
Spotify has become the latest company to openly criticise West’s remarks – but the music streaming platform will not take action against him.
Company CEO Daniel Ek said the artist’s remarks were “just awful comments”, which would have warranted West’s removal from Spotify for violating its anti-hate policies if they had been said on a podcast or recording.
Since the comments were made on social media, Spotify would only remove the rapper’s music if his label requested it, the company said.
Kanye West antisemitism controversy: What rapper said and how people have reacted
Earlier this month, Ye tweeted to say he was “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” before alleging he was not “Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also”.
Since then, West has seen his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted, an end to his banking relationship with JP Morgan, the termination of his collaboration with Balenciaga fashion house, and a completed documentary about him shelved – and the list of corporations condemning his words continues to grow.
Kim Kardashian. Pic: AP
In an indirect tweet to her ex-husband on Monday, Kim Kardashian wrote: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end”.
Antonio Brown stands with West
Despite the backlash, American footballer Antonio Brown, president of West’s brand management agency Donda Sports, has released a statement on Twitter declaring his “support” for the rapper, who he considers his “brother”, and frowning upon the organisations cutting ties with the artist.
“Over the past few weeks the world’s reactionary and selective outrage at comments in the media made by my brother, Ye, have inflamed and sparked rampant conversation and reflection.
“I too have been able to reflect on statements that I and others in my circle have made that lack clarity in expressing my stance.
“The people and brands that have relentlessly profited from Black ideas and Black culture chose to distance themselves at a very specific time: a time that demonstrated their prioritization of certain groups over others.
“None of us in this world are free of judgment, yet we live in a time where scrutiny and pessimism have driven our dialogues on cultural issues toward diatribes”.
Brown added that he stands by his “dedication to freedom of speech, thought and opinion” and that diversity in thought “pushes humanity forward”.
However, he said: “Let me be clear, discrimination of any kind is an injustice to all people, which is exactly why I wish to issue this statement”.
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Brown said he would remain as president of Donda Sports and ended his statement saying: “I remain in support of the humanity that is Ye”.
Sky News has contacted West’s representatives for comment.
Saoirse Ronan has become one of the Academy Awards’ anomalies after being nominated four times without taking home a statuette.
The American-born Irish star received her first Oscars nod at the age of just 13, when she featured in the best supporting actress category for her role in Atonement.
Since then, despite being shortlisted three times for best actress for Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women, she has never won.
Now, the 30-year-old is set to compete in both the lead and supporting actress categories at the 2025 awards for her new films The Outrun and Steve McQueen’s Blitz.
Saoirse Ronan stars in The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
If she secures one or both nominations, she would become the youngest actor to receive five, or six, nods.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, The Outrun, which is inspired by the life of writer Amy Liptrot, follows a Scottish woman struggling with alcoholism while living in fast-paced London.
In a bid to maintain her sobriety, she returns home to Orkney and finds herself in the process.
“Nora really wanted us to have our input in terms of who these characters were and situations that we would find them in”, Ronan told Sky News.
“We had a script that was written and the structure of it was there, but we were sort of able to fill in the gaps a little bit.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
The Scottish drama marks the first time Ronan has worked as a producer on a project and she says she took a lot from the experience.
She said: “There is a lot going on behind the scenes that actors are protected from, and sometimes I think it would be valuable for an actor to know the drama that exists when they’re not around.
“I think it might make people behave a little bit better and to know that it is sort of like a domino effect when there’s one thing that’s out of place, it really will affect everything else by you not getting on to a call at a certain time.”
The Outrun. Pic: StudioCanal UK
She said it gave her a new appreciation for the craft.
“It’s very difficult to get an independent movie made and to try and source the money needed to just even pay people is difficult sometimes.
“So, yes, it’s just having an awareness of and the graft involved and that has definitely made me appreciate the movies that I’m on so much more where I am just an actor and I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff at all.”
The film also stars The Lazarus Project’s Paapa Essiedu as her boyfriend Daynin.
Battling with the person she has become, her character Rona returns to the Orkney Islands to try to reconnect with nature.
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The Oscar nominee said sea swimming at a remote location was therapeutic for the cast and crew.
“We finished [shooting] on Papa Westray, where we had to have a micro crew. There’s 90 inhabitants on the whole island.
“We stayed in people’s homes because there’s no hotels or anything like that. We ate together every night. We walked to work like it was a very stripped back experience in terms of filmmaking.
“And I think that was sort of felt like art imitating life a little bit after all the chaos of the beginning of the shoot. To have that at the end was wonderful.”
The Outrun is in cinemas now.
Pop star Lana Del Rey has married her alligator tour guide partner in Louisiana, according to reports.
The singer, 39, and Jeremy Dufrene, 49, are said to have obtained a marriage licence in Lafourche parish on Monday and had their wedding three days later.
Footage obtained by the Daily Mail appears to show Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Woodridge Grant, wearing a white dress where Mr Dufrene works as a tour guide in Des Allemandes, south of New Orleans.
Del Rey has not commented on the reported wedding.
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She met Mr Dufrene in 2019, posting pictures of her on one of his tours with the caption: “Jeremy lemme be captain at Arthur’s Air Boat Tours x.”
Arthur’s Air Boat Tours gives guided tours through the local swamps, where its website says visitors are likely to see “300 species of birds” and “alligators up close and personal”.
Mr Dufrene’s profile page says he previously worked seven days a week at a chemical plant – when he would “shrimp on vacation days”.
“After a little convincing by his family, he got his captain’s licence and started running tours,” it adds.
“Jeremy’s a great airboat captain and loves interacting with wildlife & customers.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The couple were pictured together at Reading and Leeds festival this summer where Del Rey headlined.
She previously dated Scottish singer Barrie-James O’Neill for three years and was last linked to a police officer called Sean Larkin.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Woman accuses rapper of further sexual assault allegations in new lawsuit
Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with further sexual assault allegations after a woman filed a lawsuit in New York.
In the fresh civil case, the woman – identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe – claims she was repeatedly raped and drugged at the music mogul’s homes and became pregnant after one of the encounters.
It follows a series of similar legal cases brought by women against Combs, 54, who was arrested at a hotel in New York last week on sex trafficking, drug possession and firearms offences.
The latest lawsuit was filed on Friday against Combs, his companies and several associates, and seeks undisclosed damages for physical injuries, severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety and other harm.
The woman claims she met Combs abroad in 2020 and that the assaults and harassment continued through to July this year.
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She says she was often coerced and harassed into travelling to Combs’ homes in New York, Los Angeles and Miami and other cities, and during every visit the rapper would make her “perform a show” for him.
In one encounter alleged to have taken place in July 2022, the woman claims she blacked out after being forced to take drugs that included ketamine.
She later allegedly took a pregnancy test and told Combs it was positive. She said an associate of the music producer repeatedly demanded her to get an abortion. The lawsuit states she had a miscarriage.
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Diddy ‘didn’t do these things’ – lawyer
The woman, who is being represented by lawyers Marie Napoli and Joseph Ciaccio, also alleges Combs and his associates tracked her location and monitored her conversations.
She claims Combs discouraged her from working and gave her an “allowance” that he used to control her.
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“No one is above the law. Fame and wealth do not protect Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from serious allegations of sex trafficking and abuse,” Ms Napoli said in a statement.
Combs has been facing civil allegations including rape, sexual assault, and forced drugging since November 2023.
He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but remains jailed, having been denied bail. His attorney said he is innocent and will fight to clear his name.
A lawyer for Combs did not respond to the allegations made in Friday’s lawsuit when contacted by the Associated Press news agency.
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