This week has seen many brands distance themselves from Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and now it seems that his ultra-popular clothing line and shoe brand Yeezy has lost a major distribution partner.
According to a post to Instagram, an internal memo was sent out to Foot Locker staff requesting that all Yeezy footwear items be removed from the sales floor. The request says that Yeezy shoes should not be displayed and are to be held in the back until further instructions are given.
Shortly after Foot Locker shared an official statement about the matter.
“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of anti-Semitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior. While we remain a partner with Adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections—we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.”
Of course, this move isn’t a real surprise given Ye’s recent antisemitic rants, but it isn’t yet clear what will be done with the products now that they’ve been taken off of shelves.
Earlier today Adidas who crafted the shoes alongside Ye severed ties with the award-winning artist announcing that it will be ceasing production of all Yeezy items and stopping all payments to Ye and his companies.
With this move and Foot Locker’s decision to remove stock from shelves, getting your hands on Yeezys will not be a simple task going forward. Similarly, other shoe stores have also pulled Yeezy products in the wake of Ye’s recent comments. While resale prices are typically high on Yeezys they are yet to see any significant spike due to these recent developments.
