Update: On Monday (October 24) TMZ reported that Kanye West will apparently no longer be working with Camille Vasquez and Brown Rudnick. This comes after Kanye was apparently asked by the firm to retract his anti-Semitic words. He refused and then fired Brown Rudnick.
Camille Vasquez, one of the lawyers who represented actor Johnny Depp in his successful defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this year, has a new celebrity client.
Vasquez and her firm Brown Rudnick were reportedly hired by rapper Kanye West, who now goes by the name Ye, to handle a “variety of business matters” now that companies have started to cut ties with him after several weeks of anti-Semitic, racist, and offensive comments and actions.
Late last week, the high-end fashion brand Balenciaga was the first company to end its relationship with West.
It really started to snowball in early October when West wore a shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” at a fashion show in Paris alongside conservative political commentator Candace Owens. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the phrase is associated with a Neo-Nazi group that is “dedicated to promotion of the white race” and was founded as “a racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter.”
About a week later, West said he was ready to go “death con [DEFCON] 3 on Jewish people,” an anti-Semitic comment that triggered Twitter to lock him out of its platform.
West also claimed that George Floyd’s death wasn’t caused by former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nine minutes, and instead blamed his death on the use of fentanyl. Floyd’s family is suing West for $250 million for his remarks.
Along with Balenciaga, Vogue magazine has also moved on from its ties to West. Adidas said its partnership with West is currently “under review,” although West believes he can “say anti-Semitic s–t and [Adidas] can’t drop me.” West responded by posting: “F–K ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS ADIDAS R-PED AND STOLE MY DESIGNS.”
