Kanye West dropped by talent agent CAA after antisemitic comments

CAA is the latest business to cut ties with the rapper over his antisemitic comments

Kanye West has been dropped by the mega Hollywood talent agency CAA, it was reported Monday (24 October).

The rapper, now officially known as Ye, is currently embroiled in a row over antisemitic comments he made on a podcast earlier this month.

Deadline confirmed that CAA is the latest business to cut ties with West amid the rapper’s latest controversy.

The agency, which did not provide a statement to the trade magazine, has been representing West for touring since 2016, during which time he has not been on tour.

The Independent has contacted West for comment.

Days ago, French fashion house Balenciaga announced it “no longer [has] any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to” West. West had opened Balenciaga’s summer 2023 show earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Adidas is facing sustained pressure to drop the artist.

Kanye West (Getty Images)

“The thing about me and Adidas is, I could literally say antisemitic s*** and they can’t drop me,” the rapper said on the podcast where he made the offensive comments. “I could say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”

West’s estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, is the latest celebrity condemn her ex’s statements.

“Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” Kardashian tweeted Monday. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”

West, who shares four children with Kardashian, has been locked from his Twitter and Instagram accounts for violating the platforms’ policies.

Over the weekend, an antisemitic and white supremacist group unfurled a large banner above a Los Angeles overpass, which read “Kanye is right about the Jews” following the rapper’s widely condemned antisemitic remarks.

On 19 October, West doubled-down on his comments during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, in which he said he was “absolutely not” sorry for his antisemitic remarks. He then offered some form of apology when he said: “I will say, I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the DEFCON…the confusion that I caused. I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I’m sorry for the families that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through.”

“Hurt people hurt people – and I was hurt.”