Kanye West’s Last Burnt Bridge is his link with talent agency CAA. The rapper is no longer represented by the famous Hollywood agency, rolling stone can confirm. The CAA severed ties with him this month in response to continued erratic behavior that has been defined by continued and dangerous anti-Semitic comments.
West has nowhere to go now that the CAA has appealed. The company complements a trio of major agencies in Hollywood, alongside WME and UTA, both of which have already released statements calling for a full boycott of the rapper on a professional level.
On Sunday, UTA chief Jeremy Zimmer issued a company-wide memo saying West’s remarks “embold others to amplify their vile beliefs.” The statement, titled “Rise of Anti-Semitism and Hate,” added: “We cannot support hate speech, bigotry or anti-Semitism. Please support the boycott of Kanye West.
In addition to being dropped by CAA, entertainment company MRC has pulled the plug on a documentary about West. “This morning, after discussions with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we have made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary on Kanye West,” shared MRC co-executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and Scott. Tenley in a statement. “We cannot support any content that amplifies its platform.” (rolling stone‘s parent company, Penske Media Corporation, entered into a joint venture with MRC in 2020.)
West’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, has also decided to stop working with West, after agreeing to represent him late last week. Sources have told TMZ that the lawyer who helped Johnny Depp in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard will no longer be providing West with a lawyer after the rapper refused to retract his anti-Semitic statements.
Celebrities from film and TV, fashion and music have spoken about West’s actions over the past few weeks. Universal Music Group, the parent company of West’s former label Def Jam, issued a statement denouncing his actions, and Balenciaga recently severed ties with him. On an individual level, figures like Jack Antonoff, Josh Gad, John Legend, Diddy, Kim Kardashian, Jamie Lee Curtis and others have spoken about the dangers of continuing to platform someone with such dangerous ideas.
All of this comes as West’s lyrics have a tangible influence in the real world. On Saturday afternoon, at least seven people gave the Nazi salute as cars passed under an overpass in Las Angeles where an anti-Semitic group hung a sign that read, “Kanye is right about the Jews.”
The turning point in West’s rapid downward spiral came when the rapper had his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted after he shared anti-Semitic comments on both platforms. From there, he ventured onto other platforms, giving a series of increasingly erratic and offensive interviews.
West appeared on the podcast Drink champions in a since-deleted episode, where the hosts didn’t push back on his comments. He also made stops on Fox News Tucker Carlson tonight, where some of his rhetoric was platform, while many of his anti-Semitic comments were deleted. And he also appeared on News Nation’s CUOMEwhere host Chris Cuomo actually made an effort to push back.
West’s recent tirades about the Jewish people have overlapped with his claim – supported by conservative scholar Candace Owens – that Black Lives Matter was a “scam”. West also promoted the false claim that George Floyd was not murdered, but died of fentanyl. He also designed a bunch of ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts, which were distributed last week with the help of accused rapist Ian Connor.
This story was updated at 3:25 p.m. to include TMZ reporting that West is no longer receiving legal advice from Camille Vasquez.
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