Madame Tussauds scraps Kanye West wax figure over antisemitic remarks
London museum says decision to move the display to archive is in line with public expectations; rapper was dropped from Adidas, escorted out of Skecher headquarters this week
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Kanye West’s wax figure was removed from public display at London’s Madame Tussauds on Wednesday, after a series of antisemitic remarks made by the rapper led to several institutions cutting ties with him.
The wax museum announced that West’s figure was moved from the attraction floor to the site’s archive, a day after Adidas cut ties with the artist.
“Each profile earns their place at Madame Tussauds London and we listen to our guests and the public on who they expect to see at the attraction,” a spokesperson for Madame Tussauds told the BBC.
West, who goes by Ye, has been embroiled in controversy ever since Balenciaga’s Paris Fashion Week show earlier this month, during which he debuted a line of “White Lives Matter” shirts. The controversial slogan has been described by the ADL as a “white supremacist phrase.”
Since then, the rapper and fashion mogul has spouted antisemitic sentiment across social media and in news interviews, including vowing to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” and claiming that he is the target of a “Jewish underground media mafia.”
He recently suggested slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast,” among other comments.
Kanye West's wax figure has been removed from Madame Tussauds. pic.twitter.com/qqjMOZ4RLq
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) October 26, 2022
Since the controversy began, West has been dropped by his talent agency, CAA, and the MRC studio announced Monday that it is shelving a completed documentary about the rapper. West was also escorted out of the Skechers corporate headquarters in Los Angeles on Wednesday, after turning up uninvited.
The Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with him last week, according to Women’s Wear Daily, while JPMorganChase and West have ended their business relationship, although the banking breakup was in the works even before his antisemitic comments.
In recent weeks, West also has ended his company’s association with Gap and has told Bloomberg that he plans to cut ties with his corporate suppliers.
After he was suspended from Twitter and Facebook, West offered to buy conservative social network Parler.
President Isaac Herzog, who is visiting the US, told CNN Wednesday that he was “extremely pleased to see this overwhelming reaction against the comments by Kanye West.”
The Times of Israel Community.