Kanye West is still rolling VULTURES out with Ty Dolla $ign, but he's also dealing with a media firestorm that has raged on for years now. For example, one of the many consequences of his antisemitic rants was the end of his Yeezy parternship with Adidas in 2022, one that famous sneaker designer Steven Smith helped broker all the way back in 2016. But it seems like that ship has also sailed. Moreover, new reports emerged that Ye fired Smith in early August of this year, and Smith spoke to Fast Company about this development. They described him as "a sensitive defender of Ye and, in particular, the treatment of his mental health."
"He’s lost his mind," Steven Smith said of Kanye West, which definitely indicates that he's no longer as sympathetic as the publication suggested. "The whole of Yeezy is circling the drain and this is just part of it. He has surrounded himself with toxic, C-grade losers. [...] I’m in a very happy place with it all. I will certainly be a priceless asset to whoever I work with next. It’s all his loss and the result of his foolishness."
Kanye West & Steven Smith At The Fast Company Innovation Festival In 2019
Furthermore, Kanye West has apparently also blocked Steven Smith on Instagram, but Smith didn't really elaborate on why Ye fired him, or if this is actually how things went down. After all, Fast Company claims that Smith "reached a breaking point" when the Chicago artist tried and failed to launch a porn company. But it's difficult to identify exactly what caused the breakdown of their relationship, mostly because the heaps of controversy over the past few years leave a lot of options on the table.
Meanwhile, other Kanye West antics these days involve the arrest of a woman who claims he telepathically ordered her to steal a car. Whether it's the zaniest of zany headlines or legitimately disturbing sexual harassment accusations, there's a lot to unpack. Sadly, things haven't really gotten any easier to deal with as of late. We just have to wait and see what happens next in the saga of Ye, and hope that there are brighter days to come.