Kanye West’s Yeezy online shopping platform has been shut down following the sale of T-shirts featuring a swastika. The rapper, also known as Ye, promoted his website during a Super Bowl commercial, directing viewers to purchase clothing adorned with the Nazi symbol, which is frequently associated with far-right extremism.
Shopify, the e-commerce platform that hosted his site, has deactivated it, and the domain name yeez.com is currently listed for sale at $98,999 (£79,692). In a statement, Shopify emphasized that all merchants must adhere to the platform’s rules, noting that West’s store did not comply with authentic commerce practices and violated their terms.
West’s representative has not yet responded to inquiries for comment. The white T-shirts displayed a black swastika on the front and were the sole items featured on the homepage of yeezy.com. The $20 (£16) item was accompanied only by the letters “HH-01,” which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) identified as a code for “Heil Hitler.”
Initially, West’s site displayed a message indicating that the store was “unavailable.” It has since redirected to GoDaddy, the registrar managing yeez.com, where the domain is listed for sale. GoDaddy has not yet commented on whether the sale was initiated by the company or by West.
The decision to sell the T-shirt has sparked significant backlash, including from the ADL, which described the shirt sales as “further proof” of West’s antisemitism. The organization, dedicated to combating anti-Jewish bigotry, noted that the swastika was adopted by Hitler and continues to instill fear among those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy.
Recently, West has made antisemitic posts on social media, including statements like “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi.” Following these posts, a “sensitive content warning” was added to his account, which he later deactivated. His spokesperson, Milo Yiannopoulos, stated that West is an influential artist who continues to push the boundaries of creativity and free expression, and that he has temporarily deactivated his account.
