Kanye West was the subject of a recent Saturday Night Live skit, which took aim at his failed attempt to strike a deal with Skechers.
The short sketch aired over the weekend, with SNL cast members – including Cecily Strong and Bowen Yang – pretending to be Skechers employees, praising the brand for refusing to work with West in a “message from Skechers”. The tongue-in-cheek skit also poked fun at the shoe brand, with the actors joking that the recent headlines have made Skechers relevant again.
“Like the rest of the country, we were appalled by Kanye’s horrific comments, and we vowed to never work with him in any capacity,” said Strong’s character Diane Cunningham. “But can we also point out, that of all the companies he could have approached and been rejected by, he chose Skechers.”
Check it out below.
Skechers has an important announcement pic.twitter.com/lZacNz8SU5
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 30, 2022
It comes after multiple brands have refused to work with West following his tirade of antisemitic comments. After his Yeezy line was dropped by Adidas, West approached Skechers to pitch a brand collaboration, but was escorted out of their corporate headquarters when he showed up unannounced.
TJ Maxx and Foot Locker have also severed ties with the rapper, as well as Gap, Def Jam, JP Morgan Chase, Balenciaga, his lawyer and his booking agency. Following the termination of his deal with Adidas, West’s net worth reportedly dropped from $2billion (£1.3billion) to $400million (£348million).
West’s most recent controversies began at Paris Fashion Week, when he sent models down the runway in clothing emblazoned with the slogan “White Lives Matter”. Not long after, he appeared on the Drink Champs podcast, where he made inflammatory comments about the murder of Black man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, and a series of antisemitic statements.
He went on to make similar antisemitic comments on Fox News, LeBron James’ talk show The Shop and during an interview with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo. The rapper later refused to apologise for the comments during an interview with Piers Morgan, somewhat doubling down to offer a “sorry” for a particular tweet that referenced going “death con 3” on Jewish people.