Kanye West Dumped By Johnny Depp’s Lawyer After His Anti-Semitic Comments: Vogue, Balenciaga, & CAA Follow Suit

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Update (10/24/22 10:34 a.m. EST): Kanye West  has been dropped by two of his Donda Sports clients in light of his antisemitic remarks, following Adidas terminating its contract with the rapper. Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald both terminated their contracts following the remarks. Tamar Andrews, an educator at Kanye’s Donda Academy who also teaches at Jewish institutions, also resigned following his remarks, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

Aaron released a joint statement with his wife to share that he was leaving the agency in a tweet. “We do not feel our beliefs, voices, and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents people of any background, ethnicity or race,” they wrote.  Jaylen released a similar statement on Twitter, condemning antisemitism and hate speech.

Update (10/24/22 2:53 p.m. EST): Kanye West has reportedly been dropped by Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez, as well as many others, for his recent anti-semitic comments. A source close to the situation explained that Kanye was also wasn’t able to come to an agreement with the Brown Rudnick law firm, to The New York Post. “After Ye doubled down this weekend, Camille dropped him. The firm still wanted to make it work but on the condition he retract, he wouldn’t — so he fired them,” they told the outlet.

Camille and the law firm are from the only ones to cut ties to Kanye. Talent agency CAA, who represented Kanye for touring, announced they were dropping him on Monday, October 24. He also had a documentary by MRC shelved, per Variety. Fashion house Balenciaga announced that they were severing ties from him in a statement from their parent company on Friday to Women’s Wear Daily. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” they said.

Fashion magazine Vogue announced that neither it nor its editor-in-chief Anna Wintour have any intentions to work with the rapper following his anti-semitic remarks in a statement to Page Six. A source close to the situation provided more details to the outlet. “[Anna] has made it very clear inside Vogue that Kanye is no longer part of the inner circle,” they said.

Original (10/21/22): Kanye West has reportedly hired Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez to represent him in business dealings, according to TMZ. The outlet says that sources close to Kanye, 45, have told them that he hired Camille along with her firm Brown Rudnick. The news comes as the rapper faces much scrutiny following a series of antisemitic remarks on social media and in interviews. HollywoodLife has reached out to the legal team for comment.

Kanye hired Camille to be part of a group of attorneys to represent his businesses, including work related to contracts and deals. Prior to the story about his new lawyer breaking, fashion brand Balenciaga announced that it was ending its connections to Ye. “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” the brand’s parent company Kering said in a statement to Women’s Wear Daily. 

Aside from being dropped by Balenciaga, the news comes following a series of outbursts from The Life of Pablo rapper, seemingly beginning with the rapper debuting a “White Lives Matter” shirt at a Paris Fashion Week show. A number of people called out Kanye including the Black Lives Matter organization. Kanye then shared an antisemitic remark that he’d sent to Diddy on Instagram, which led to him being restricted on the social media platform. He doubled down by tweeting that he was going “death [sic] con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” which led to him being kicked off of Twitter as well. Additionally, he’s also falsely claimed that George Floyd’s death was the result of a fentanyl overdose, not murder, during an interview on the Drink Champs podcast. This has led to Floyd’s family filing a $250 million lawsuit against the rapper.

Camille should be easily recognizable to fans who watched Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which ended with the Pirates of the Caribbean star being awarded $10 million in damages. Camille passionately made the case to try to discredit Amber, 36, which led to Johnny’s victory. Amid the trial, she became one of the standouts, with many fans wondering if she and Johnny, 58, had secretly started dating. These rumors were quickly put to rest because she has a boyfriend. She’s also called out the speculation as “sexist,” while also pointing out that it’s “unethical to date clients. “It’s unfortunate and it’s disappointing, but at the same time it kind of comes with the territory. I can’t say I was all that surprised,” she told People in an interview.