Saturday Night Live made Kanye West the object of derision in a skit that examined the ridiculous nature of his being thrown out of the headquarters of Skechers. The skit featured several of the SNL cast members, including Cecily Strong and Bowen Yang.
The skit took the format of a promotional video for Skechers, with the cast pretending to be Skechers staff members. The “message from Skechers” also took the mickey out of the shoe brand itself, claiming that the West-related headlines had given them a boost in popularity.
Strong’s character opens the skit by saying, “Here at Skechers, we pride ourselves on two things. Making stylish, comfortable shoes and an affordable price, and having zero tolerance for antisemitism.” She later added, “Like the rest of the country, we were appalled by Kanye’s horrific comments, and we vowed never to work with him in any capacity. But can we also point out that of all the companies he could have approached and been rejected by, he chose Skechers.”
The skit comes in fresh on the back of West’s recent antisemitic comments. He was subsequently dropped from several of his business partnerships, including Adidas and Balenciaga. Seeking new partnerships, West turned up unannounced at the Skechers head office to try and organise a deal but was quickly removed from the building by security.
West’s onslaught of controversy started at Paris Fashion Week when he showcased his ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt. West then claimed that George Floyd died from using fentanyl rather than being asphyxiated to death by police officer Derek Chauvin, prompting Floyd’s family to launch a defamation trial against West.
The antisemitic comments continued on Fox News in conversation with LeBron James and later with Chris Cuomo. West also refused to apologise for his hurtful words in a lengthy interview with Piers Morgan, in which he would not accept that what he had said was insensitive.