
Shopify has taken down Kanye West’s Yeezy.com website after it was found to be selling a single item: a white T-shirt featuring a black swastika in the center, listed under the product name "HH-01."
West had promoted the controversial merchandise during the Super Bowl by airing a commercial in select US markets.
The 47-year-old musician and designer then directed viewers to visit Yeezy.com, where the only available product was the $20 T-shirt displaying the swastika. According to industry publication Variety, the website had initially featured a selection of unbranded apparel, but shortly after the ad aired, all other items disappeared, leaving only the controversial shirt.
By Tuesday morning, visitors to Yeezy.com were met with an error message stating: “Something went wrong. This store is unavailable.”
A Shopify representative told Canada’s Global News, “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify.”
West’s actions drew sharp criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League, which condemned the move in a post on X.
“As if we needed further proof of Kanye’s antisemitism, he chose to put a single item for sale on his website – a t-shirt emblazoned with a swastika.”
The organization also explained the historical weight of the symbol, stating, “The swastika is the symbol adopted by Hitler as the primary emblem of the Nazis. It galvanized his followers in the 20th century and continues to threaten and instill fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy.”
The post further highlighted concerns about the product’s name, saying, “If that wasn’t enough, the t-shirt is labeled on Kanye’s website as ‘HH-01,’ which is code for ‘Heil Hitler.’”
The ADL also pointed out West’s ongoing pattern of antisemitic rhetoric. “Kanye was tweeting vile antisemitism nonstop since last week. There’s no excuse for this kind of behavior. Even worse, Kanye advertised his website during the Super Bowl, amplifying it beyond his already massive social media audience.”
West, who nowadays calls himself Ye, flooded X with antisemitic comments this past Friday, posting dozens of tweets to his 32 million followers, in which he praised Hitler, called himself a Nazi and said antisemitism was “just some bulls–t Jewish people made up to protect their bulls–t.”
He also emphasized that he was unrepentant and in control of his faculties. “AMY JEWISH PERSON THAT DOES BUSINESS WITH ME NEEDS TO KNOW I DONT LIKE OR TRUST ANY JEWISH PERSON AMD THIS IS COMPLETELY SOBER WITH NO HENNESY,” he wrote in all caps, adding, “IM NEVER APOLOGIZING FOR MY JEWISH COMMENTS.”
He later closed his X account, writing "I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate Elon for allowing me to vent. It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board."
West’s most recent rant is not the first time that he has posted antisemitic comments on social media. In 2022, the rapper threatened to go "death con 3 on the Jews" in an apparent antisemitic rant on X, which was then called Twitter. West followed this up by claiming that he can't be antisemitic "because black people are actually Jew."
West’s antisemitic comments caused a host of companies to cut ties with him, including Adidas, the Creative Artists Agency, Foot Locker and Apple Music.
He later seemingly backtracked his comments, citing actor Jonah Hill’s acting in the 2012 movie “21 Jump Street”.
In December of 2023, the rapper published a Hebrew-language post on Instagram in which he apologized to the Jewish community for the various antisemitic statements he had made.
His previous tirades caused Musk to suspend West’s X account, but the account was later reinstated.