For years, Kanye West’s legacy has been tied to his innovative and successful musical career. He has produced twelve albums, dozens of hit singles, and has broken records with his twenty-four Grammy Awards. Many argue that his high status can be credited to the level of innovation of his music. Kanye’s albums are rich in variety from hype-up songs to emotional ballads. He is often praised as ‘ahead of his time’ and especially, for the vulnerability engraved into his lyrics. 

   In recent years, his focus has expanded from the music industry to reality television and fashion, heavily-influenced by his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. With this expansion, people began to see his radical ideology and personality emerge in his 2020 presidential campaign.. While most of his music includes intense and vulgar messages, most listeners, as mo

st fans of controversial artists do, have tried to separate the music from the artist. With that, the question emerges, when does a celebrity’s actions cross that moral line where listeners and businesses can no longer support or associate with them?

   In the spotlight, Kanye has managed to offend a wide variety of individuals, and he does it quite outwardly. Seeming to seek out controversy, he has claimed credit for Taylor Swift’s fame, he has made multiple comments regarding his disdain for the Jewish community, he has worn ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts, and has posted personal attacks to many, including his Kardashian family counterparts. While his actions have been pushed under the rug, within the past few months, his fans and partnerships have decided to take action. On October 10th, Twitter and Instagram suspended Ye’s account, @Kanyewest, specifically following the chain of Anti-Semitic commentary, including one of his most malicious Twitter posts where he said he was “going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”. Brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas have also dropped their partnerships with the artist. Adidas, who has worked with Kanye West since 2013, claimed their deal was already on pause and after Kanye wore the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt to Paris Fashion Week, they decided to officially cut ties from their long standing collaboration.

   Many fans are conflicted on whether or not it is possible to continue to support somebody who has continuously attacked and threatened dozens of people, groups, and organizations. Especially for teenage listeners, it is difficult to determine whether Ye should stay on their playlists. When prompted with this very idea, Tyler Gearman, an avid Kanye listener, said, “I love his music but I don’t think his songs justify his hateful actions recently.” 

   With the newfound cut-ties and his fans expression of disappointment, it is unclear what his next moves will be. Kanye is notorious for constantly and publicly changing his mind, so fans are curious to see if he will continue these harmful attacks and spew hate, or take an apologetic path in attempts to fix the damage he has done to his reputation and more importantly, make amends with those he has hurt.