From his recent battle with fashion brands Adidas and Balenciaga, to his age-old drama with Taylor Swift, here’s who Kanye West has fought with over the years.
Kanye West’s Biggest Feuds Of All-Time
Kanye West has been a controversial figure for quite some time. Fans may best remember the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, during which Taylor Swift won her first Moon Person and was rudely interrupted during her acceptance speech by an arranged Kanye who believed Beyonce should have won.
The 45-year-old has since gotten into numerous feuds, some bigger than others, whether it be with Kim Kardashian‘s ex Ray J or Kim’s bloodline. He even famously crossed Taylor a second time when their alleged agreement with his 2016 song ‘Famous’ went South. The feud caused Kanye and Taylor’s apparent friendship to end and for Taylor to redesign her very public life.
Over a decade after Kanye’s infamous VMAs interruption, he may have gone too far. In Oct. 2022, he came under fire for saying he wants to go ‘death con 3’ on Jewish people and then proudly standing up for his opinion and other racist statements he has made. This controversy caused him to lose out on all of his brand deals and even get dropped by his agency. Learn about his most recent controversy and his previous feuds in the following gallery.
Sketchers vs. Kanye West
Kanye West found himself in hot water in Oct. 2022 amid the several anti-semitic and racist remarks he made throughout the month, which led to all of his business partners, such as Balenciaga and Adidas, and even his former agency, CAA, to drop him. Sketchers had not previously worked with him, but the sneaker company showed they have no interest in it when they turned Kanye away and escorted him out with security when he entered their office in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
‘Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation,’ a statement from the company to KTLA read.
Making its disdain for Kanye’s recent actions known, the statement from Sketchers added, ‘Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West. We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech. The Company would like to again stress that West showed up unannounced and uninvited to Skechers corporate offices.’
Kanye has not responded to the news as of this writing.
Peloton vs. Kanye West
Peloton decided to ‘pause’ the use of Kanye West’s music from its future new classes following his doubling and even tripling down on the antisemitic comments he made multiple times in Oct. 2022. ‘We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton indefinitely paused the use of Kanye West’s music on our platform,’ the company wrote on Pelobuddy on Oct. 25. ‘This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes and we are not suggesting any class that includes his music in our proactive recommendations to Members.’
‘You should know this was a decision we made immediately following his remarks,’ the company wrote, potentially shading Adidas’ delayed response to its former collaborator’s remarks. ‘Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and thank you for being a Member of our Peloton community.’
The announcement came after Kanye was officially removed from Forbes‘ list of billionaires.
Kanye West vs. Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown terminated his contract with Kanye West’s Donda Sports agency in light of the rapper’s antisemitic remarks. He had originally said he planned to stay with the agency, although he didn’t condone Kanye’s hate speech. When he announced he was terminating his contract, he apologized. “I have always, and will always, continue to stand strongly against any antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind,” he wrote in a statement.
Aaron Donald vs. Kanye West
Following Kanye West getting dropped by Adidas, Aaron Donald and his wife Erica released a joint statement saying that they planned to cut ties with Donda Sports as well.
“The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family,” they wrote. “We do not feel our beliefs, voices, and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents people of any background, ethnicity or race.”
Kanye vs. Adidas
In 2015, Kanye West and Adidas began their lucrative collaboration which started with the YEEZY Boost sneakers. The collaboration was a hit and, when it launched in 2015, celebrities such as his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Beyonce were fans of the brand. In 2016, the partnership between Kanye and Adidas led to an extension of the brand and the launch of a new Yeezy category. Within the next few years, the collaboration and formation of YEEZY became incredibly lucrative. By 2020, sales for the YEEZY sneaker reached $1.7 Billion in annual revenue. Aside from sneakers, the collaboration expanded to a variety of high-end wearable items, such as track pants, socks, jackets, slides, and slippers, as well as women’s shoes and lingerie.
In June 2022, however, Kanye’s relationship with the brand began to deteriorate when the company released a pair of shoes very similar to the ones that YEEZY had previously designed. He took to Instagram to call them “a fake YEEZY made by Adidas themselves.” In August, Kanye reached out to Complex Magazine to say that the company’s annual YEEZY Day, which began in 2019, was “not sanctioned” by him at all. In Sept. 2022, the tension between the collaborators hit an all-time high when Kanye went after executives, who he accused of “stealing” his designs and holding meetings about him without him. At the time, celebrities voiced their support of Kanye, taking to social media to share, what they believed, to be knockoff designs. People Magazine published an article that contained supportive social media posts from Kanye’s famous friends, including Swizz Beatz, who shared a photo of Adidas-released sneakers that were nearly identical to YEEZY’s. In the caption, he wrote, “I usually mind my business but this is DEAD WRONG! If we let them do this to @kanyewest it will happen to us also! This man created this groundbreaking innovation and it should be respected as a creative!” At the time, Adidas did not respond to his accusations. In mid-Sept., Kanye officially ended his two-year-long collaboration with GAP amid controversy.
Then came “White Lives Matter” debacle. Kanye caused a firestorm of controversy when he infamously wore a shirt that read “White Lives Matter” to his YEEZY season 9 fashion show at Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 3. After getting into heated exchanges with numerous celebrities, who were appalled by his tasteless fashion choice, Kanye sat down with Fox News host Tucker Carlson to defend his decision on Oct. 6. The following day, on Oct. 7, Adidas released a statement that said that their partnership was “under review,” to which Kanye responded on his Instagram by writing, “F— ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS.” Later that same day, Ye was banned from Twitter and Instagram over Anti-Semetic social media posts that he posted on the platforms. Adidas officially cut ties with Kanye on Oct. 25 and they called out Kanye’s comments for being ‘unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.’ (Splash)
Kanye vs. Anna Wintour
Kanye West has had a longstanding relationship with ‘Vogue’ editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, even coordinating ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s first-ever joint cover with him ahead of their 2014 wedding. The two maintained a favorable relationship through the years — with Anna even modeling Ye’s new Yeezy glasses in the fall of 2022 — however, the relationship went sour after the Chicago native wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt that sparked a feud with Anna’s editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson and made anti-semitic remarks. ‘Vogue’ has no intention of working with Kanye in the future, a spokesperson confirmed to Page Six on Oct. 22. “Anna has had enough,” a source also told the outlet. “She has made it very clear inside Vogue that Kanye is no longer part of the inner circle.”
Kanye vs. Balenciaga
Kanye’s lucrative 8-year partnership with the fashion luxury brand Balenciaga was severed by the company on Oct. 20 — making the brand the first major corporation to cut ties with Kanye over his recent outbursts. In a statement published in WWD, the parent company, Kering, stated, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.” As fans of the fashion giant know, Kanye and Balenciaga first started working together in 2014, when Kanye became close with Demna Gvasalia, who is the creative director of Balenciaga. But their bond was not enough to keep Kanye — whose ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, 42, is a brand ambassador for the French company — in good graces. So how did it fall apart?
On Sept. 15, Kanye revealed that he and GAP had ended their relationship. Kanye accused the company of having meetings about him without him, as well as trying to use his designs without his permission. They produced fashion wear that was only available online, the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga Collaboration.
Several weeks later, on Oct. 3, Kanye walked the runway for Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week. After modeling for them, however, Kanye infamously wore a t-shirt that read “White Lives Matter” during his own Yzy Szn 9 fashion show. His fashion choice was not only offensive but it was considered to be racist by his fans worldwide that supported the Black Lives Matter movement, which came about after George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Indianapolis in March 2020. After getting booted by Twitter and Instagram one week later because of antisemetic comments that Kanye posted on the social media platforms, Kanye went on the Drink Champs podcast and stated that George Floyd did not die as a result of the injuries he sustained at the hands of the police — and that he actually died from a drug overdose of fentanyl. This prompted the Floyd family to prep a $250 million lawsuit against Kanye, which is being filed on behalf of George’s youngest daughter, Gianna, 8. Two days after the lawsuit was announced, Balenciaga officially cut all ties with Kanye. Kanye has not yet responded to the split. (Best Image / BACKGRID)
Kanye vs. George Floyd
Kanye, ever the provocateur, picked a fight with the family of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police offer Derek Chauvin in 2020 after he knelt on George’s neck over a suspected counterfeit bill. The rapper claimed during an outrageous Drink Champs podcast interview that George actually died of a fentanyl overdose. The interview was pulled from the platform, per an October 18, 2022 report by The Hollywood Reporter.
But not in enough time to stave off a massive $250 million dollar lawsuit by the family of George, who announced that same day that they are suing Ye and had sent a cease and desist. “In his recent appearance on the popular podcast Drink Champs, Kanye West knowingly made blatantly false statements about George Floyd’s death to promote his brands, and increase marketing value and revenue for himself, his business partners, and associates,” a press release read in part. “During the podcast interview, Kanye West stated malicious falsehoods about George Floyd to profit from Mr. Floyd’s horrendous death and his family’s trauma.”
George’s minor daughter Gianna, the lawsuit claims, has been “re-traumatized” by Kanye’s false remarks, which has created “an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her.” Her mother Roxie Washington reportedly hired two law firms in the matter, going up against the embattled rapper and various “business partners and associates” for “harassment, defamation and infliction of emotional distress.”
Kanye vs. Gigi Hadid
Kanye West started some major drama when he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt to his 2022 Paris Fashion Week show. After he blasted Vogue editor Gabriella-Karefa Johnson for criticizing the shirts, Gigi Hadid came to her defense, calling Kanye a “bully and a joke.”
“You wish u had a percentage of her intellect. You have no idea,” Gigi wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. “If there’s actually a point to any of your sh0t she might be the only person that could save u. As if the ‘honor’ of being invited to your show should keep someone from giving their opinion? Lol. You’re a bully and a joke.”
Kanye then turned around and called Gigi “corny a**,” a “privileged Karen” and a “cabbage patch” kid. A day later, Kanye was restricted on Instagram, although it is unclear which guidelines he violated.
Kanye vs. Hailey Baldwin
Much like Gigi Hadid rushing to support Vogue editor Gabriella-Karefa Johnson after Kanye’s online attacks, Hailey Baldwin did the same.
When Kanye caught wind of Hailey’s social media messages, he went ahead and called her “nose job Hailey Baldloose” and told her husband Justin Bieber, who has been tight with the rapper, to “come get your girl before I get bad.”
A few days later, Kanye taunted Hailey by resurfacing rumors of a romance with Drake back in 2016.
The Biebers are reportedly so hurt by the insults that Justin is considering calling off his friendship with Ye. As a source exclusively told Hollywoodlife, “He had so much love and respect for the guy, and they’d been friends for many years. Kanye has given Justin so much advice in the time he’s known him, and he has been a source of wisdom and advice.”
The insider continued, “It was really a low blow to go after Hailey when she didn’t do anything wrong. Justin is torn on if he should respond to Kanye’s insults or not. Everyone around him in his camp is advising him against it. They all think that responding would just add fuel to his fire. Justin has enough to worry about right now than get caught up in this drama. He has moved on from drama years ago.”
Kanye vs. Khloe Kardashian
During his social media tirade around the time of the “White Lives Matter” shirt drama, Kanye continued the narrative that he was being kept from his four kids he shares with his ex Kim Kardashian, as he once again claimed that he wasn’t allowed to know the location of their daughter Chicago’s birthday party.
Khloe Kardashian clapped back on social media, writing, “You are the father of my nieces and nephews and I’m trying to be respectful but please STOP tearing Kimberly down and using our family when you want to deflect. Again with the birthday narrative. Enough already. We all know the truth and in my opinion, everyone’s tired of it.”
Kanye responded by calling Khloe and her family “liars” and said that they “basically kidnapped Chicago” during the birthday party in question.
Kanye vs. Travis Scott
Though they’re both Kardashian “family”, Kanye West hasn’t always been kind to Travis Scott, who shares two kids with Kim’s little sister Kylie Jenner.
Kanye called Travis out for working with Drake. Talking about Travis’ hit “Sicko Mode,” he tweeted back in 2018 ‘Trav should have never allowed that,” he wrote. Later, Ye continued on “Sicko Mode” and alluded to Travis’ album Astroworld. “We have to be close as a family and never let these people infiltrate just for radio spins,” he said. He then claimed Travis hit him with “threats.” The following Saturday, Kanye said it’s “all love” between him and Travis after they met up at Ye’s.
Kanye vs. Tristan Thompson
Tristan Thompson hasn’t always been on Ye’s good side. Things got heated between the pair during a 2018 birthday party for Tristan and Khloe Kardashian’s daughter True.
The altercation was captured on-camera for an episode of KUWTK. The basketball player blamed Ye for his bad edit the season before, citing the use of the Kanye song “Runaway,” which is literally a “toast to the douchebags.” Kanye distanced himself from the situation, telling confessional cameras, “He felt like we were using my music to reinforce, like, his narrative.”
It looks like the pair has gotten over any tension. Since their skirmish, they’ve enjoyed dinners and nights out together. Back in Mar. 2022, they were sighted having a great time together in Miami. An insider dished to E! News, telling them, “Kanye was smiling and holding court at the table. He and Tristan seemed like good friends having a fun night out. They were laughing and smiling together and seem to be on great terms.”
Kanye vs. D.L. Hughley
D.L. Hughley was actually the one who started things with Kanye West, via Twitter in Mar. 2022. Not only did he claim Ye cried over the size of his Kim’s, boyfriend Pete Davidson’s ‘big’ manhood but insulted his clothes and mental health.
“#Kanye do you know how horrible you gotta be to make a #Kardashian date a white man!” he wrote. Mocking Kanye’s mental health struggles, he also tweeted, “Kanye how dare you talk about the way someone dresses, look at you!! All those people in your head and not one of em got a Macys card?”
Kanye vs. Pete Davidson
Pete Davidson is seen at a Dec. 2021 event for his show ‘The Freak Brothers’. He and Kim Kardashian had been linked for over a month at the time. Their relationship would run its course by Aug. 2022, however.
Kanye West started taking shots at Pete Davidson not long after SNL funnyman was linked to his ex-wife Kim. Ye threatened to beat Pete up in his Jan. 2022 song “My Life Was Never Eazy” and took several more verbal jabs at him on the track “City Of Gods” the next month. Things appeared to escalate after that when Kanye took the beef to social media, nicknaming the ‘The King Of Staten Island’” Star” “Skete” during a days long rant in mid-Feb. 2022.
(During that time, the Yeezus visionary wrapped even more people up into the schism, making fun of Machine Gun Kelly and declaring Kid Cudi was cut from his album ‘Donda’ for being friends with — and we quote — “you know who”.)
The feud took a very personal turn when Kanye shared a texted he claimed to be from Pete and then told the comic he would “never meet” the four kids he shares with Kim. According to screenshots shared by Kanye, Kim then reached out to him to say she feared his comments were putting Pete in danger. By Aug. 2022, Kim and Pete decided to break things off.
Sources who exclusively spoke with HollywoodLife insisted that Kayne wasn’t “isn’t the reason they broke up,” but his “antics certainly didn’t help them.”
“Ultimately, Pete is a great guy and they had a magical time but he was also on the heels of her messy divorce with Kanye, which is still not over,” the insider said. “Kim needs to wrap up loose ends in her life before moving forward with a man who wants her to be the center of his world.”
Kanye vs. Kim Kardashian
Kim and Kanye looked close at the Vanity Fair Oscar party on Feb 10 2020. Their relationship would go downhill not long after.
Though it might not be a full feud, the tension between Kanye and ex Kim Kardashian is hard to ignore. Their marriage of 7 years began to disintegrate back around July 2020 when Kanye revealed intimate personal details about their relationship at a kick-off rally for his presidential campaign. He broke down in tears as he revealed how the couple considered terminating their first pregnancy. Kim was reportedly “mortified” by his outburst, with insiders telling ‘Page Six’, the star was “desperately worried” about her husband, who has a history of mental illness.
The relationship was strained from that point on and by January 2021, Kim was ready to file for divorce. Though the pair are said to be on good terms and co-parenting their 4 children, Kim seemed to upset Kanye after she poked fun at him while hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ on October 9. After she joked about divorcing the rapper because of his “personality”, the rapper lashed out during a Nov. appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast.
“SNL making my wife say ‘I divorced him’ because they just wanted to get that bar off, and I ain’t never even seen the papers, we’re not even divorced,” Ye told the podcast. “That ain’t no joke to me. My kids want their parents to stay together. I want us to be together.” When Kim began dating Pete Davidson, Kanye’s harassment intensified.
Things would temporarily calm down after Kim’s Aug. 2022 split with Pete, but Kanye was causing controversy once again by October. After he presented a collection of “White Lives Matter” shirts during Paris Fashion Week, Kim was said to be “utterly disgusted.”
Sources exclusively told HollywoodLife, “Kim is not surprised by Kanye decision to wear that on his shirt and thinks that he is, once again, trying to get attention. She knows that he loves to start controversy and she is not even feeding into this. Sure, she thinks that he is making a horrible choice and that the message is very offensive to so many.”
Kanye vs. Billie Eilish
Kanye lashed out at Billie Eilish after accusing her of throwing shade at Travis Scott during a Feb. 2022 concert. He demanded an apology from the ‘Happier Than Ever’ singer, who never directly called out Travis but did make a point of helping out a fan during a concert, something which people read as a dig at the Astroworld tragedy.
“COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES,” he wrote before adding that if Billie doesn’t apologize, he won’t be performing at this year’s Coachella festival. “NO ONE INTENDED THIS TO HAPPEN TRAV DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN HE WAS ON STAGE AND WAS VERY HURT BY WHAT HAPPENED AND YES TRAV WILL BE WITH ME AT COACHELLA BUT NOW I NEED BILLIE TO APOLOGIZE BEFORE I PERFORM.”
Billie made it clear that was not the case, commenting on Kanye’s Instagram saying, she “literally never said a thing about travis. was just helping a fan.”
Kanye vs. Jay-Z
Kanye West and Jay-Z perform together at the 2011 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. They were close friends and collaborators, releasing the 2011 album ‘Watch The Throne’ together. However, Jay-Z didn’t attend Kanye’s wedding to Kim Kardashian in 2014. They made peace for Blue Ivy’s birthday party in Sept. 2017 only for Kanye to reignite their feud after his deal with Jay’s Tidal music company went south.
Jay unpacked the rivalry in Aug. 2017, telling music journalist Elliot Wilson, “What really hurt me was, you can’t bring my kids and my wife into it. Kanye’s my little brother… We’ve gotten past bigger issues. But you brought my family into it and now it’s a problem with me. Now, it’s a real, real problem.”
The pair seemed to be on good terms once again by 2021, when Jay appeared on the song “Guess Who’s Going To Jail Tonight” off Kanye’s album ‘Donda’.
Kanye vs. Drake
Kanye and Drake were once collaborators back in 2009 when Kanye directed the music video for “The Best I Ever Had”. Drake would describe Kanye as a huge influence but seemed to take jabs at the ‘Late Gradutation’ rapper in several of his 2011 songs. They would continue to trade barbs, while still appearing on each other’s songs and concerts, for the next few years.
Things took a dramatic turn though in 2018 when Kanye produced a Pusha-T track that savaged the Canadian rapper and revealed that he was a father. The pair officially buried the hatchet in Nov. 2021 when they held a benefit concert together.
Kanye vs. Taylor Swift
Kanye West infamously interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, telling the audience that Beyonce deserved the Best Female Video award instead. ‘Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time,’ he said into the mic.
The duo appeared to have smoothed over by 2015, when they were seen chatting at The Grammys. In tk she awarded him the Video Vanguard Award at the VMAs, apparently ending their battle. Not long after, Kayne said he’d be happy to collaborate with the ‘Fearless’ songstress. ‘She wants to get in the studio, and we’re definitely going to go in. Any artist with an amazing point of view, perspective, fanbase, I’m down to get in the studio and work. I don’t discriminate.’
But their friendship was short-lived. The fight would pick up less than a year later when Kanye called Taylor ‘this b—-‘ on his 2016 track ‘Famous’. When Taylor expressed outrage, Kanye then claimed he got the singer’s permission before releasing the track. Then-wife Kim Kardashian later produced video proof of Taylor appearing to give the song her OK. That video was later contradicted by yet another video from Taylor’s camp.
She hit out at Kanye on her 2017 revenge album ‘Reputation’. On the song “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” she sang, ‘Did you think I wouldn’t hear all the things you said about me?’
Things would remain quiet for years, until Kim told Andy Cohen everyone had moved past the schism by 2019. ‘I feel like we’ve all moved on,’ the Skims mogul said.
Talking her side of things in a Sept. 2019 Rolling Stone interview, Taylor said, “When someone doesn’t respect you so loudly and says you literally don’t deserve to be here — I just so badly wanted that respect from him, and I hate that about myself, that I was like, ‘This guy who’s antagonizing me, I just want his approval.'”
Kanye vs. Ray J
Kanye has dissed Ray J — who dated Kim Kardashian in the early 2000s — in his music several times. On the 2016 song “Highlights” the “Jesus Walks” rapper rhymes, “I bet me and Ray J would be friends if we didn’t like the same b—- / Yeah, he might have hit it first, only problem is I’m rich.”
It seems Ray J pulled the first punch though, all the way back in 2012. When Kanye started dating Kim following her divorce from Kris Humphries, Ray J released the song “I Hit It First”. The music video even featured a Kim K look-alike.
Things got even messier in 2022 when Kanye claimed there was a second tape, one which he personally retrieved. (Kim has totally brushed off those claims as ridiculous.)
Kanye vs. Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake seemed to be the accidental target of Kanye’s ire when the rapper remembered a Grammys moment during the 2015 VMAs.
He claimed that he saw the N’Sync rapper weeping after losing at the 2006 Grammys, saying, “Bro, Justin, I’m not trying to put you on blast but I saw that man in tears, bro. And I was thinking he deserved to win Album Of the Year.”
Timberlake seemed to take things in stride, however, tweeting back, “Kanye is so cute, y’all.”
Kanye vs. Wiz Khalifa
Kanye’s feud with Wiz Khalifa stemmed from pure misunderstanding. West got riled up when he thought Wiz name-dropped then-wife Kim Kardashian in a tweet. He lashed out before Wiz explained he was using a common slang term. Kanye didn’t cool down after being corrected. Instead, he lashed out at Wiz’s ex-wife Amber Rose, who Kanye previously dated. “You let a [dancer] trap you,” he tweeted, before crossing the line and bringing Wiz’s son into the conversation.
Since, Kanye has gone on to apologize for his behavior, telling Steve Harvey’s radio show in 2020, “I really want to stress the amount of respect that I have for parents. There is no concept of anyone beating up on someone else’s child or that type of concept. So every day I feel more deeply, deeply, deeply apologetic about that concept, because I only want to put out positive, positive, positive concepts.”
Kanye vs. Jimmy Kimmel
In a series of tweets, Kanye West slammed nighttime host Jimmy Kimmel for airing a spoof of Kanye’s interview in 2013.
“JIMMY KIMMEL IS OUT OF LINE TO TRY AND SPOOF IN ANY WAY THE FIRST PIECE OF HONEST MEDIA IN YEARS,” West tweeted in all-caps.
Jimmy looked back on the call-out fondly with GQ in Feb. 2018, telling the magazine, “I live for moments like that. When I got in a Twitter battle with Kanye, I was so happy.”
“My wife makes fun of me. She’s like, ‘You are so happy right now.’ I’m absolutely beaming. I feel very confident in a situation like that.”
Kanye vs. YouTube’s Chad Hurley
In 2015, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley reportedly paid a settlement of $440,000 for filming and uploading a video of Kanye West proposing to Kim Kardashian at San Francisco’s AT&T park to his new video website, Mixbit. The proposal ended up airing on Kim’s reality show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’.
Kanye vs. Nike
Kanye West teamed up with Nike to collab on sneakers, but professional disagreements made him switch to Adidas in 2013. He shaded Nike in his 2015 track “Facts,” rapping, “If Nike ain’t have Drizzy, man they would have nothin’ / If Nike ain’t have Don C., man they would have nothin’ / Yeezy Yeezy Yeezy they line up for days / Nike out here bad they can’t give s–t away… Nike, Nike treat employees just like slaves / Gave LeBron a billi’ not to run away.”
Though he signed another contract with Adidas in 2016, Kanye appeared to be warming to Nike again by June 2021, when he was spotted rocking a pair of Nike Vandal High sneakers out.
He defended his right to sport the footwear of his choice in an interview with Nick Cannon in Sep. 2020. “In my Adidas contract, [I] definitely should be able to wear Jordans,” West said. “Jordans need to be part of reparations. You can’t tell a Black man not to wear Jordans. It should be in any deal.”
Madame Tussaud’s Vs. Kanye West
Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum decided to remove their wax figure of Kanye West from viewing areas in light of his antisemitic remarks. A spokesperson for the London museum said they decided to take out his figure due to public backlash. “Ye’s figure has been retired from the attraction floor to our archive. Each profile earns their place at Madame Tussauds London and we listen to our guests and the public on who they expect to see at the attraction,” they told the BBC.