“Kanye came to Skechers and Skechers said no. Do you realize how insanely satisfying that is?”
Saturday Night Live mocked Kanye West’s unsolicited visit to the Skechers headquarters with a new ad where the shoe company championed its hardline stance against anti-Semitism while also celebrating the fact that the rapper even considered Skechers.
“Here at Skechers, we pride ourselves on two things: Making stylish, comfortable shoes at an affordable price, and having zero tolerance for anti-Semitism,” said Cecily Strong’s marketing director.
“That’s why this week, when Kanye West showed up at our corporate office asking to work with us, we said no,” Bowen Yang’s Skechers employee added. “And we immediately escorted him out of the building.”
Strong added, “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… But, can we also point out, of all the companies he could of approached and been rejected by, he chose Skechers.”
The ad also criticized Adidas for that shoe giant’s delayed decision to cut ties with West — “It took Adidas so many days to decide not to work with him, I mean he walked in and we were like ‘Bye. Buh-bye. Door!’” — as well as offered the rapper a suggestion for a new brand partnership: MyPillow.
A day after Adidas finally cut ties with West, he showed up “unannounced and uninvited” to Skechers’ Los Angeles headquarters.
“Considering Ye was engaged in unauthorized filming, two Skechers executives escorted him and his party from the building after a brief conversation,” Skechers said in a statement. “We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”
Adidas followed the likes of CAA, Vogue, Balenciaga, and other companies to distance themselves from the rapper.