No longer was West the dorky producer turned rapper agitating to break out of Jay-Z's shadow. He had become a true star. The only person who could stop Kanye was Kanye - or Ye, as he prefers to be known of late.
His empire lies in a smouldering heap in the wake of the 45-year-old artist's October media blitz. West says he lost $2bn in a single day last week.
First there was the smear campaign against his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, then the White Lives Matter fashion statement in Paris, then his complete transformation into an "alt-right" puppet. And it crescendoed with West's antisemitic commentary.
The Gap, JP Morgan and Creative Artists Agency are among a raft of partners that quickly cut ties. All the while West dug in, claiming Adidas would never leave him regardless of how many antisemitic assertions he made.
But a week later, Adidas went its own way, a move it reckons cost it $246m in potential fourth-quarter earnings - West's Yeezy line accounted for as much as 8% of its bottom line.
Denne historien er fra November 04, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra November 04, 2022-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Power play The Solar Mamas who are lighting up Zanzibar
In a dimly lit corridor of a mudwalled house nestled among coconut trees, Sharifa Hussein stripped red and black cables, a screwdriver voltage tester balanced between her lips and rolls of cable lying by her feet.
Play it again and again
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David Lynch 1946 -2025
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Mood music
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Israel began bombing Gaza on 7 October 2023 after Hamas crossed the border, killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage to Gaza.
North Koreans' capture sheds new light on war
The news was sensational.
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The hours-long delay in implementing the Gaza ceasefire agreement last Sunday was not a good omen for a deal that many fear could be doomed to failure as it moves through its challenging three phases.
Why did LA's wildfires explode out of control?
Acombustible combination of factors laid the groundwork for disaster as the city struggled with catastrophic blazes
