Kanye West has claimed he was “two months” away from filing for bankruptcy after losing $2 billion in one day when Adidas ended its partnership with Yeezy.
The rapper, 46, lost his billionaire status in 2022 when several brands terminated his lucrative contracts over his anti-Semitic outbursts and were outraged by his decision to promote White Lives Matter T-shirts at his Paris Fashion Week show. .
Kanye said he put “everything he had” into Sunday’s $7 million Super Bowl ad for his fashion brand and new album, Vultures.
‘I’ll just be honest with you all. I was two months away from going broke and I put everything I had into it (the album and the Super Bowl ad),’ he said. TMZ.
Kanye said that when his wealth began to plummet, he moved to Italy with his wife Bianca Censori.
Kanye West has claimed he was “two months away” from filing for bankruptcy after losing $2 billion in one day when Adidas ended its partnership with Yeezy.
‘We moved to Italy. We moved to the factories and survived. We survived the cancellation. We are number one again,” he stated.
On Monday, Kanye shared that Yeezy had made $19.3 million from the Super Bowl ad and that Vultures was number one in 100 countries.
When asked if he felt the controversy “helped him,” Kanye responded, “It wasn’t about the controversy. It was about being able to say out loud how you felt.
‘If I didn’t have the various musical skills, the clothes and the fan base, they could have destroyed me. But because we had all those abilities, somehow I am here within this universe able to fight.”
Kanye was asked if he regretted his anti-Semitic comments, to which he responded, “they’re entitled to their opinion, I’m entitled to my opinion.”
The rapper was back in the spotlight Sunday night with his bizarre commercial for his fashion brand during the Super Bowl.
During the promo, filmed in the back of a car, Kanye joked that his team had spent so much money on the 2024 Super Bowl ad, which is said to be worth $7 million for 30 seconds, that they had no budget left to produce a commercial.
He said, ‘Hey everyone, this is Ye and this is my commercial… (my team) spent all the money on the commercial (so we) didn’t actually spend any money on the actual commercial.
‘But the idea is that I want you to go to Yeezy.com. I’m going to write it at the bottom of the screen… and I have some shoes, and ummmm… that’s it.’
The rapper, 46, lost his billionaire status in 2022 when several brands terminated his lucrative contracts over his anti-Semitic outbursts (pictured with Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden).
On Monday, Kanye shared that Yeezy had made $19.3 million from the Superbowl ad and that Vultures was number one in 100 countries.
Sunday’s commercial led fans to his website, where merchandise from his new album Vultures 1 could be purchased.
While West’s strange, homemade addition to the television lineup was at odds with the glossy, big-budget commercials that aired Sunday, fans claimed it was a stroke of marketing genius.
The flamboyant rapper was present at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas when the Kansas City Chiefs triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers to claim their third title in five years.
Brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Mountain Dew, Uber Eats and Oreo spent an average of $7 million each to secure advertising space during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, watched by 114 million people around the world.
But while West’s strange, homemade addition to the television lineup was at odds with the glossy, big-budget commercials that aired Sunday, some fans claimed it was a stroke of marketing genius.
On X, formerly Twitter, one impressed viewer wrote: ‘The genius that is Kanye West. Put a commercial in the Super Bowl that trends beyond the Super Bowl.
A second added: “Best Super Bowl commercial ever.”
While a third admitted: “I didn’t watch the Superbowl but I’ve seen this ad 3 times.” Actually, you are a genius.
Elsewhere, a fourth wrote: “Ye’s #Superbowl commercial is the biggest Ye commercial of all time.”
The announcement appeared to be a clever marketing strategy after West, who renamed himself the abbreviated Ye, pulled his latest album, Vultures 1, from streaming platforms and altered its cover.
German sporting goods giant Adidas ended its partnership with Kanye amid controversial behavior from the American rapper and designer in 2022.
West’s Yeezy deal with Adidas was the crown jewel of his fortune, with sales rising to $1.7 billion in 2020, earning him $191 million in royalties.
The flamboyant rapper was present at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas when the Kansas City Chiefs triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers to claim their third title in five years.
Sunday’s commercial prompted fans to visit its website, where merchandise related to the new album can be purchased. The album returned to streaming platforms on Monday morning.
West entered enemy territory when he arrived at the Super Bowl on Sunday, where rival Taylor Swift and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian were in attendance.
The rapper was in full costume as he headed to the big game hand in hand with his wife Bianca Censori.
He wore an Alexander McQueen crucifix mask, a black leather jacket and shiny leather pants, while Bianca sported a jacket and shiny hooded accessory.
The designer mask was placed comfortably over his head covering and was perhaps worn in tribute to the late designer, who died on February 11, 2010.
Kanye’s marriage to Kim officially ended in 2021 and he has since started dating Odell Beckham Jr.