Kanye West: JP Morgan Chase ends banking relationship with rapper
JP Morgan Chase is ending its business relationship with Kanye West, but say the rapper’s recent anti-Semitic comments are not the reason.
The US banking giant says the break-up has been planned for weeks.
A letter confirming the bank would be cutting ties with West – who is now legally known as Ye – was tweeted by conservative activist Candice Owens.
Owens has been seen publicly at events with West, and he attended the premiere of her documentary – The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM – in Nashville on Wednesday night.
Earlier today I learned that @kanyewest was officially kicked out of JP Morgan Chase bank. I was told there was no official reason given, but they sent this letter as well to confirm that he has until late November to find another place for the Yeezy empire to bank. pic.twitter.com/FUskokb6fP
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 12, 2022
JP Morgan have said the letter was sent to West on 20 September. They have given him 60 days from the date of the letter to find a new banking relationship for his fashion and shoe line Yeezy Brands.
Last month, West told Bloomberg News he planned on cutting some of his corporate ties, saying: “It’s time for me to go it alone”. In that interview, he also criticized JP Morgan for not giving him access to the bank’s CEO and chairman, Jamie Dimon.
Anti-Semitic comments made by West on social media over the weekend resulted in Twitter and Instagram suspending his accounts.
On Twitter, West said he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people and alleged that he wasn’t “anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew”. On Instagram he accused record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by the religious minority.
West has since defended his remarks, telling US outlet Page Six he did not intend “harm” on Jewish people, but was “happy to have crossed that line”.
He told a reporter: “Hey, if you call somebody out for bad business, that means you’re being anti-Semitic. I feel happy to have crossed the line of that idea so we can speak openly about things like getting cancelled by a bank”.
West went on to say he was “the richest black man in American history, that put $140m (around £125m) in JP Morgan”.
West’s nine-year relationship with Adidas is also understood to be currently “under review”. West has responded by accusing the sportswear brand of stealing his designs.
Last week West faced a backlash after wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, a response to the Black Lives Matter movement founded in 2013 following the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Last month, West also said he was ending his partnership with Gap as they hadn’t opened any standalone stores for his Yeezy fashion label.