Entertainment
Candace Owens threatens to sue George Floyd Family, George Floyd’s family suing Kanye West, and Balenciaga ends relationship with the rapper
BY SYDNEE WALCOTT
This year rapper Kanye West has been at the centre of many controversies.
So far West had been banned from performing at the 2022 Grammy Awards, he received a one-day suspension from Instagram after making racist comments towards The Daily Show host and 2022 Grammys host Trever Noah (who had voiced concerns over the rapper’s conduct) and had continuously trolled ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her now former ex-boyfriend, comedian Pete Davidson.
The controversy does not end there as West continued to stir up more controversy this month.
The rapper recently received backlash from many celebrities after spending more than three hours making insulting comments towards different celebrities and going on an antisemitic rant while he made an appearance on a now-removed episode of Revolt TV’s Drink Champs podcast.
During the podcast, West also made misinformed comments on the death of George Floyd by claiming Floyd did not die by having former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneel on his neck, but by a fentanyl overdose.
On October 18th, 2022, the family of George Floyd announced their plan to file a $250 million lawsuit against West, his business partners, and associates for the comments he made on Floyd’s death.
Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd’s only daughter, filed the lawsuit and will be suing for harassment, defamation, misappropriation, and inflicting emotional distress.
Lawyers representing the family also issued a cease and desist letter to West for his comments and said they were a “Repugnant attempt to discount George Floyd’s life and to profit from his inhumane death.”
While fentanyl was found in Floyd’s system, a toxicology report did not identify it to be part of his cause of death.
Chauvin, who was found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights and has been convicted of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, is currently serving a 21-year federal sentence and a 22 1/2-year state sentence, which will be served concurrently.
Due to all the controversy that has been surrounding Kanye West in recent months, people and organizations have been urging companies who have worked with West to sever their business ties with him.
As of Friday, October 21st, 2022, one of those companies recently decided to part ways with the rapper.
The French luxury fashion house Balenciaga became the first company to sever ties with West after the rapper made a series of anti-Semitic comments and misinformation on the death of George Floyd.
According to a statement sent to the Women’s Wear Daily, Kering, the parent company to Balenciaga, provided a statement them with a short statement saying:
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects relating to the artist.”
West has had a long history with the luxury brand due to the close relationship he had with the luxury fashion house’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia.
Balenciaga has since removed the rapper’s look from his runway debut at Paris Fashion Week and a section featuring the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenziaga collaboration from their website.
While Balenciaga severed their ties with West, the Anti-Defamation League, Campaign Against Anti-Semitism and many celebrities are calling for Adidas to also end their partnership with the rapper.
Adidas, who has been collaborating with West since the release of his Yeezy brand in 2015, currently have their business partnership with the rapper ‘under review.’
Amid all of his most recent controversies, it seems as if Kanye West has an ally who has recently come to his defence.
Candace Owens came to the defence of her friend as she has threatened to sue the family of George Floyd in response to the lawsuit they filed against West after the rapper claimed it was a drug overdose that contributed to Floyd’s death and not police brutality.
According to Mediate, Owens based Floyd’s family in a recent podcast of her show after it was announced that his family will be suing West over the comments he made on Floyd’s death.
“I’m also sick of frivolous lawsuits. You know, if this is actually considered credible – if you sue somebody because you’re feeling ‘emotionally distressed’ because of them going out and saying things – well then I think that I have grounds to sue George Floyd’s estate,” said Owens during her podcast episode.
Owens said she is considering seeking lawyers’ advice to file a complaint against Floyd’s family.