Ye's Website Taken Down After Selling Swastika Shirts, Shopify Cites Policy Violation

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The website operated by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, went offline Tuesday morning after Shopify, the ecommerce platform hosting the site, determined that it had violated its terms of service. The platform confirmed its decision in a statement, saying: "This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify." The site had been selling white T-shirts featuring a black swastika, a symbol associated with Nazi Germany and widely recognized as a symbol of antisemitic hatred.  

 

When attempting to access the website, visitors were met with a message stating, "This store is not available." Shopify, which serves as a widely used ecommerce platform for numerous businesses, did not specify which of its rules had been broken but pointed to its terms of service, which allow the company to "restrict products or activities that we deem unsafe, inappropriate, or offensive."  

 

Ye had drawn attention to his website through a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday night, driving traffic to the online store just before the controversial shirts went on sale. This latest incident follows a string of antisemitic statements made by Ye, including recent posts on X in which he declared himself a Nazi. His X account was deactivated on Monday, and when NBC News sought a comment from his representatives regarding Shopify’s decision, no response was received.  

 

Milo Yiannopoulos, a spokesperson for Ye, defended the artist in a statement, saying: "Ye is an intergenerational artist and icon who continues to redefine the limits of creativity and free expression. He has deactivated his X account for the time being."  

 

Meanwhile, the backlash against Ye has continued to mount. Music agent Daniel McCartney of talent agency 33 & West announced via an Instagram story on Monday that he would no longer represent Ye, stating: “Due to his recent harmful and hateful remarks that myself nor 33 & West can stand for.”  

 

Ye, once a dominant figure in both music and fashion, saw his lucrative partnership with Adidas come to an end in 2022 after making antisemitic remarks. The German sportswear giant, which had previously collaborated with him on his Yeezy brand, severed ties amid the controversy.  

Cloudflare, the company responsible for hosting Ye’s website, and GoDaddy, the domain registry company linked to the site, have not yet commented on the matter.

 

Based on a report by NBC News 2025-02-13