Kanye West. From antisemitic statements to the appointment of a Jewish business manager to his fashion brand (Photo: Reuters)
The English tabloid The Sun (on its American website) reports today that rapper Kanye West, who has been embroiled in a slew of antisemitic remarks, is trying to revive his fashion brand, after it was almost eliminated by the comments and the singer's unstable condition.
It wasn't just West's private label that suffered from customer churn. Even major global brands with which he worked, such as the sports brand Adidas and the fashion chain Gap, canceled contracts with him, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars (West himself named the imaginary number of "$2 billion a day").
Whether it's a PR stunt or a genuine appreciation of the controversial artist for his professional skills, the person appointed by him to the position of CEO of the brand is Canadian Jew Dov Charney, one of the most well-known names in the American fashion world, although not always positively.
Charney and West know each other in the past, and according to The Sun, Charney even makes shirts and supplies fabrics for the various products under the YEEZY brand. At the same time, Charney brings with him not only professional experience, but also a problematic past.
Dov Charney during his days as CEO of American Apparel. He was accused of harassing his female employees and removed from his post in 2014 (Photo: GettyImages)
Charney was the founder and CEO of the American Apparel fashion brand and brought the company to a record valuation of $2.7 billion, but in 2014 testimonies surfaced from female employees under him who complained of harassment. In light of the testimonies, Charney was removed from his position by the company's management. "No lawsuit was ever filed against me," he said, arguing that "no accusation has been proven," Charney defended himself after the affair. He also accused the other board members of conspiring to oust him.
For their part, they were able to say that some of the accusations against Charney included, for example, "dancing naked in front of employees" and claimed that the price of settlements with some of the complainants caused the company millions of dollars in damages paid in compensation.
Beyond his Jewishness, Charney also has an Israeli point: his maternal uncle is the well-known architect Moshe Safdie, the designer of the Mamilla promenade, the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, the Yad Vashem Museum and more.
- money
- World money
Tags
- Kanye West
- Dov Charney
- American Apparel
- antisemitism