Kanye West Made Unauthorized Visit To Skechers Offices The Day After Adidas Dropped Him

Topline

Kanye West, also known as Ye, made an unscheduled and unauthorized visit to shoe retailer Skechers headquarters in Los Angeles on Wednesday and was escorted off the premises, the company said in a statement, the day after his Yeezy shoe brand was dropped by Adidas.

Key Facts

In a surprising statement issued by the company, Skechers said West “arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices.”

West, who “was engaged in unauthorized filming,” and his party were escorted off the property after a “brief conversation.”

Skechers “is not considering and has no intention of working with West,” and the company said it condemns “his recent divisive remarks” and does “not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”

Crucial Quote

“The Company would like to again stress that West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices,” the statement read.

Key Background

West was dropped by Adidas on Tuesday after making repeated antisemitic and controversial remarks over the last month, including saying he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” Adidas had distributed West’s Yeezy shoe line since 2013, and said it would lose $246 million as a result of severing ties with him. The Adidas contract was responsible for much of West’s wealth, and without it he fell off Forbes’ list of billionaires. He’s now estimated to be worth $400 million. In response to West’s remarks, he also lost his relationship with Balenciaga, retailer Gap vowed to immediately pull its Yeezy Gap merchandise from its shelves and website, and Foot Locker said it wouldn’t sell any current or future Yeezy products.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes valued the Greenberg family, which founded and owns roughly 20% of publicly-traded Skechers, as the No. 163rd-richest family in America in 2015, with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion. The company is helmed by father Robert Greenberg and son Michael Greenberg. Forbes estimates the Greenbergs are worth at least $1.4 billion today.

Further Reading

Adidas Cuts Ties With Kanye West After Anti-Semitic Comments (Forbes)

Kanye West’s Anti-Semitic, Controversial Behavior—Here’s Everything He’s Said In Recent Weeks (Forbes)

Foot Locker Drops Yeezy—Here Are The Companies Cutting Ties With Kanye West After His Antisemitic Comments (Forbes)