Kanye West Could Lose Everything If Someone Doesn’t Help Him

Musical genius and fashion icon Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has recently made several inexcusable antisemitic remarks, made a mockery of the Black Lives Matter movement, said untrue things about George Floyd’s murder, and harassed his ex-wife and her now ex-boyfriend. These words and actions hurt and anger lots of people. They also pose serious threats to the survivability of his brand. Today, Hollywood talent agency CAA dropped him from its client roster.

I’m one of Kanye’s biggest, most loyal fans. Despite his disgraceful comments and erratic behaviors over the years, I’ve refused to give up on Ye. The 24-time GRAMMY Award winner has been public about his Bipolar Disorder. Fans and others in his industry have understood this and therefore excused some of his behaviors, but many are running out of patience.

My sense is that a lot of people don’t think of Bipolar Disorder as a disability. They should. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the United States Social Security Administration have officially declared it so.

I often argue to friends, fleeting fans, and critics that we ought not abandon a person who has this particular disability. Increasingly, fewer people are willing to stand alongside me in support of West. I’m losing credibility. As it pertains to all artists (not just Ye) who behave recklessly, I’ve stopped trying to convince myself and others to separate the art from the artist, as doing so results in complicity and the sustainability of harm.

Ye’s self-destruction is public and painful to watch. It’s worsening. He’s surely on the brink of being canceled. Someone, anyone please help before he does irreparable harm to his legacy and billionaire empire.

To be sure, Kanye and I have never talked or met each other; I’ve only been in the audience at six of his concerts. I nonetheless care deeply about him as a person, a brilliant artist, and a Black man who has to navigate two racist industries (music and fashion) that systematically disadvantage creatives of color.

I must admit that I was so deeply disappointed when I saw photos of him wearing a White Lives Matter t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month. Appearances in his Make America Great Again hat and his bizarre bromance with President Donald Trump, as well as his own failed campaign to become president of the United States, so repeatedly confused other fans and me.

Also quite disturbing was Ye’s harassment of ex-wife Kim Kardashian and actor Pete Davidson, her now ex-boyfriend. Tweeting that he’d go “death con 3 on Jewish people” was horrific, so too was the disgustingly inaccurate explanation he offered for George Floyd’s death. Floyd’s family is now suing West for $250 million for those remarks he made on the podcast Drink Champs. In a live interview with Piers Morgan, Kanye said that President Joe Biden’s refusal to accept advice from Elon Musk is “fucking retarded.” West then maintained that his mental health issues gave him license to use those words.

Ye recently agreed to purchase Parler, a conservative social media platform that aims to be an “uncancelable” alternative to Twitter. Freedom of speech is incontestably important, yet a platform like Parler will be more harmful than helpful to West. He needs more accountability, not less. Being canceled everywhere but on Parler ultimately won’t be good for his long-term mental and emotional wellness, and certainly not for his career.

Kanye’s downward spiral is extremely difficult to watch. He deserves empathy and help, but also has to be held accountable for the destruction he’s causing in other people’s lives and in his industries. He doesn’t seem to care. Is it because he actually doesn’t care, or is it because of his bipolar disorder? I believe it’s the latter. Are there really no friends, family members, influential industry colleagues, doctors, therapists, legal team members, trusted financial advisors, business partners, or sponsors left who can persuade Ye to get the help he needs?

Earlier this year, I watched the docuseries ‘jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy’ on Netflix, which received a Primetime Emmy nomination. It was mostly an inspiring, musically exciting reminder of why I fell in love with Kanye. But I also experienced deep sadness as I saw what happened to Ye’s mental and emotional health after his mother, his most trusted accountability partner, died. Seeing the erosion of Ye’s friendships over time also saddened me. As I suspect was the case for most viewers of the documentary, I was left wondering who he has left. I want his friends and colleagues to step in before he totally loses everything and everyone, including himself.

I care foremost about Kanye and the people whom his behaviors harm, but let’s get down to business. Too few American billionaires are Black – according to Forbes, Ye is one of them. His deal with Adidas is reportedly worth $1.5 billion. Online shoe retailers say Kanye’s recent controversies haven’t negatively affected sales of his Adidas Yeezy sneaker line, at least not yet. Despite this, the partnership appears to be at risk of collapse. “FUUUUUUCK ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS ADIDAS RAPED AND STOLE MY DESIGNS,” is what West posted to Instagram in response to a CNBC article about Adidas reviewing and potentially terminating its relationship with him. If the company drops Ye, he will no longer be a billionaire, Forbes reports.

The luxury fashion brand Balenciaga is done with West. Following his antisemitic remarks and the Paris Fashion Week white lives matter apparel fiasco, a Vogue spokesperson announced that neither the magazine nor its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will work with Ye again in the future. While not attributed to any specific incident, his very public breakup with JPMorgan Chase, our nation’s biggest bank, is another recent example of a highly-publicized dissolution of a business relationship.

Last month, Ye told the retail apparel giant Gap he was ending their contract for a business partnership that was supposed to last through 2030 because the company failed to fulfill its obligations. In a memo to employees, Gap CEO Mark Breitbard offered a different explanation. He noted that West and the company “share a vision of bringing high-quality, trend-forward, utilitarian design to all people… how we work together to deliver this vision is not aligned.”

The shakiness of his Adidas deal, combined with the collapse of other business partnerships, is likely to result in significant financial troubles for one of the world’s most talented creatives. If he doesn’t receive the challenge, support and treatment that he so obviously needs, I’m afraid his music is going to stop being played on radio stations and elsewhere. Because I love him and recognize that he’s not in control of his mental illness, I desperately want someone to help save Kanye from himself. I most certainly would if I could.