Kanye West’s website, which had been selling T-shirts featuring swastikas, was taken down on Tuesday over policy violations.
Shopify, the back-end platform which hosts Ye’s website Yeezy.com, confirmed to multiple US outlets in a statement that it had deactivated the e-commerce site because the merchant did not follow the rules.
“All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. The merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them,” a spokesperson told CNN.
As of Tuesday morning, the site does not load and visitors can see a message that reads, “Something went wrong” and “Store not available.”
Shopify’s ecommerce platform is used by a number of websites to sell merchandise and/or products, and while it did not specify which rules were violated, its terms of service say it will act “to restrict products or activities that we deem unsafe, inappropriate, or offensive”.
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, confused fans with a 30-second ad promoting his Yeezy fashion line during Super Bowl LVIII.
The commercial, which appears to have been filmed by West himself on his cell phone camera, shows the rapper in a dentist’s chair.
“Hey y’all, this is Ye, and this is my commercial,” he says in the ad. “And since we spent all the money on the commercial spot, we actually – we didn’t spend any money on the actual commercial. But the idea is I want you to go to Yeezy.com.”
Spelling out the name in the commercial, West ends by saying: “I’m gonna write it at the bottom of the screen and I got some shoes and mmmm that’s it.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 30-second ad only aired in certain markets. While the cost for a national commercial slot is reportedly $7m, it’s likely West didn’t pay the full amount as the ad only appeared regionally. The Super Bowl aired on CBS and was available to stream on Paramount+.
When the commercial aired on Sunday, it appeared to be promoting the controversial rapper and designer’s new Yeezy Pods shoes, as well as clothing related to his newly released album, Vultures.
However, the only item available on the website on Monday was a white T-shirt with a black swastika embossed on it for $20.
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Yeezy about the website and the T-shirt for comment.
This comes mere days after West purportedly posted a series of shocking antisemitic posts on X. formerly Twitter, in a lengthy all-caps rant. The rapper has previously sparked outrage for antisemitic outbursts on social media and in interviews, resulting in several brands including Adidas, GAP, and Balenciaga dropping him.
His account subsequently had a “sensitive content warning” added to it due to his use of offensive slurs, and was followed by celebrities like David Schwimmer and Piers Morgan calling for West to be banned from the platform.
During the Super Bowl, West went on another rant about Taylor Swift, who was in the New Orleans Superdome to support boyfriend Travis Kelce.
On Monday, West deleted his account and thanked Elon Musk for allowing him to “vent”.
He wrote: “I'm logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip. Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention. To we connect again. Good afternoon and good night."
West’s X account had been suspended in December 2022 after he violated the platform’s policy against inciting violence by posting a design of a swastika inside the Star of David.
