Kanye West’s career – as far as public events go – has taken a hit following multiple online tirades about his divorce from estranged wife Kim Kardashian, and brand experts are now weighing in on what’s next for the Ye rapper.
Earlier this month, West was barred from the upcoming Grammys, and there has also been overwhelming public support to keep him from headlining Coachella.
A representative for West confirmed to Variety that the rapper won’t be performing at the awards show due to his “concerning online behavior.” Meanwhile, a petition to have West removed as a headliner of Coachella has garnered over 40,000 signatures.
“We have watched Kanye harass, manipulate, and hurt Kim, Pete, and others for over a year now. No one seems to want to stand up to him, and the ones that do, he puts under fire as well,” the petition states.
“Most recently, he has been threatening actual bodily harm on others. This is ridiculous that he is allowed to freely do this. Coachella (along with other brand names that are still working with him) should be ashamed of themselves and should not be giving him any more of a platform. Please sign & share!”
Representatives for Coachella have not returned Fox News Digital’s request for comment regarding the matter.
The hit to West’s career stemmed from a handful of social media rants in which the rapper targeted Kardashian, Trevor Noah, Corey Gamble and Kardashian’s new boyfriend, Pete Davidson.
The rapper was temporarily suspended from Instagram for 24 hours due to a violation of Instagram’s policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying, a spokesperson for Meta confirmed to Fox News Digital at the time.
Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants and a leading brand expert, told Fox News Digital that the suspension was a good thing for West.
“The best recovery for Kanye is that Instagram has banned him because it’s hard for him to do further damage within the social platforms,” Schiffer said. “But I think it also sent a message to him, hopefully, that his behavior has gotten a bit out of control.
“Part of this is him following his own instincts because he’s a master at attracting attention. But it was done in a way that, unlike other things that he does, was missing strategic brilliance … It came across to women and certainly those who have been in abusive relationships or have had stalkers as dangerous and suffocating and unstable.”
Schiffer also noted that West’s decision to turn to “bullying” is “repulsive.”
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“He’s systematically worked to position himself in a way that to many, especially women, has been repulsive,” Schiffer told Fox News Digital.
The “Flashing Lights” rapper has also used social media to call out Kardashian for keeping their children from him, an allegation she has denied. West and Kardashian share four children together: North, Saint, Psalm and Chicago.
West has continued to share details about the divorce on social media even though Kardashian has said the posts were causing her “emotional distress.”
Despite West’s desire to let the divorce play out on social media, Kardashian has said she has chosen to take the “high road” during a recent appearance on “The Ellen Show.”
Kelcey Kintner, senior vice president of Red Banyan PR, told Fox News Digital West needs to “own up to his mistakes” and “apologize to all those involved” before he decides to step “back into the spotlight.”
“Kanye can recover from the current backlash, but to avoid becoming too toxic and a PR liability, he must rein in his erratic and concerning behavior, own up to his mistakes, apologize to all those involved and then lie low for a bit before stepping back into the spotlight.”
By continuing his behavior, Kintner believes West could continue to be left out of music industry events.
“What happens next really depends on Kanye, himself and his conduct,” she said. “If he keeps up the public attacks on Kim, Pete Davidson and others, then he could certainly end up left off the lineup of other big events.”
Howard Breuer, CEO of Newsroom PR, doesn’t believe West will be “canceled” over his behavior in the long term but echoed Kintner, noting that West shouldn’t “dig himself an even deeper hole with this awful and abusive behavior,” if he wants “a long-term shot at public redemption and forgiveness.”
“I think many of his fans would be inclined to go along with that,” Breuer added.
Following the Grammy news, celebs spoke out about the show’s decision, with Noah, who is hosting the awards show, tweeting, “I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye.”
