The producer/rapper formally known as ‘Ye’ is continuously facing backlash from his alleged antisemitic comments he made earlier last month. Stephen Colbert has joined the list of people and companies that are publicly denouncing their association with the producer/rapper.
“After much thought and soul-searching, I, Stephen Colbert, am banning Kanye West from the Ed Sullivan Theater,” Colbert proclaimed. “Have to. I have to. Line in the sand.”
Colbert also teased that the reason he had to make the proclamation when he did was because of Ye showing up uninvited and unannounced at Skechers, a visit that came just one day after Adidas ended its partnership with the producer/rapper, according to ComicBook.
The Late Show host, according to Billboard, tried to feed some vivacity into what is otherwise a not-at-all humorous story about hate speech in his soliloquy to last Thursday’s show. Colbert says that he felt like he had to take hasty action for fear that Ye might show up at any moment.
Colbert also added that Ye’s “jurisdiction extends to the northern half of Times Square,” according to CBS News.
“I know this has been too long in coming, I have no excuses for why I didn’t do this before,” Colbert commented on the action he took to ban the producer/rapper. “Except, perhaps, that he has never been on the show, had no plans to be on the show, we’ve never asked him to be on the show and I am not sure he is aware that I have a show.”
The producer/rapper has been criticized for his alleged antisemitic comments in recent weeks. Those comments have, in turn, led to a plethora of people and companies who have discontinued ties with Ye. Companies such as TJX Companies, which is the parent company of TJ Maxx, Creative Arts Agency, Gap, Balenciaga, Adidas, and other companies have all publicized that they will no longer be working with nor will they carry Ye’s products.