Kanye West’s talent agency drops him after antisemitic, pro-Diddy remarks
The rapper's stream of antisemitic remarks led to the departure of some team members
Kanye West was dropped by his talent agency following the controversial rapper’s meltdown on social media over the weekend, which included selling a swastika T-shirt, making a string of antisemitic remarks, and posting several pornographic videos to his feed.
Daniel McCartney, who works as a talent agent at 33&West, said in an Instagram story on Monday that “effective immediately” he would not be representing West “due to his harmful and hateful remarks that myself nor 33&West can stand for.” (It is unclear when West signed with 33&West.)
A team member from Yeezy also left. West’s one-time chief of staff Eric Cui quit on Sunday, Rolling Stone has learned. It came shortly after West defended Sean “Diddy” Combs for physically abusing his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, posting screenshots of the hotel surveillance video that showed Combs attacking her.
“I loved working at YZY because I believed in your dream,” Cui wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “I believe in free speech … so I will use my free speech to say that violence and crimes against women and children is wrong.”
West kicked off his tweeting spree on Thursday night, unleashing a stream of vile and offensive posts over the next few days. He later praised and thanked Elon Musk for allowing him “to vent” freely without being kicked off the social media platform.
The tipping point came when West purchased airtime during the Super Bowl on Sunday night, in which he directed viewers to his Yeezy website, where he was selling a $20 white T-shirt that displayed a swastika.
On Tuesday, a Shopify spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone the company had pulled down his website for violating its terms. The same day, West was sued by a former Yeezy staffer, who claimed that West targeted and taunted her because she was Jewish.
West deactivated his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday. “I’m logging out of Twitter,” he wrote. “It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip. Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention.”