Kanye West had a tumultuous run. The rapper, over the years, has created an image of himself while running a shoe giant and creating storms in the music industry. But, this image was tainted due to the antics that he presented on social media and in the media. It all started with the Paris Fashion Week where the ‘Donda’ rapper introduced ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts that stirred a huge controversy.
The shirts offended the black community, which has been fighting against structural injustice. He received a heavy backlash for this. After this, while defending his move, he made some anti-Semitic comments which was the last nail in the coffin. The entrepreneur lost all his brand deals and projects on top of losing his billionaire status when Adidas pulled the plug. So, after all this chaos, what happened to the shirts which were the origin point of all this?
Also Read: How Did Kanye West Dethrone Himself From Being A Billionaire?
Why Can’t Kanye West Sell The ‘White Lives Shirt’ Anymore?
It was Paris Fashion Week when Kanye West introduced his new line of Yeezy shirts at the show. The shirts have Pope John Paul II on the front and ‘White Lives Matter’ imprinted in the back. These YZY SZN 9 t-shirts backfired for Ye. Many Hollywood celebrities condemned this fashion statement of the rapper including Jaden Smith, Bella Hadid, and Sean Diddy Combs.
Post the show, people forgot about the controversial fashion statement and the shirts. But, in a twist, two Black activists took the copyrights of the phrase and became the legal owners of the phrase’s trademark. Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, social activists and hosts of Civic Cipher became the owner of the phrase. In a smart move, the two young people did not want any further misuse of the phrase. The trademark request was made under the name of Jae Gibson on October 3rd, 2022.
Quinton Ward said that it was a difficult decision, but they made it once “it was clear that someone stood to gain significant profit from it, because as you’ve seen, even though he [Kanye West] says some really hurtful, divisive and sometimes crazy things, he has a bit of a zealot following and every time he releases something, it sells out.”
Also Read: Why Did Kanye West Wear A ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt At The Yeezy Show?
“Other People Didn’t Get Rich Off That Pain”: Ramses Ja On How They Got The Trademark
Surprisingly, the two got the trademark from a long-time listener. Ja narrated how they got the trademark. “This person who first procured it didn’t really love owning it, because the purpose was not necessarily to get rich off of it; the purpose was to make sure that other people didn’t get rich off of that pain.”
On October 18th, 2022, Ye’s former employee at Yeezy, Ian Connor was seen carrying boxes full of the Yeezy t-shirts with ‘White Lives Matter’ printed on it. He gave away the t-shirts in a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The two activists put forward a term that they will readily sell the trademark if only the buyer offers them $1 billion. Ja told Capital B News, “If we were to sell that trademark, for whatever amount of money, we could donate that money to causes that we feel would benefit Black people, like the NAACP or Black Lives Matter organisations.”
Ja continued, “Because, realistically, we cannot stop the shirts from being made right now. We can write cease and desist to people selling these shirts right now, but that is a big monster that requires teams of lawyers and thousands of dollars that we do not have.”
Also Read: Why Is Kanye West Going On A 30 Day “Verbal Fast”?
