Bethenny Frankel Revokes Support for Kim Kardashian’s Brands Due to Kanye’s Antisemitism
Frankel said she was removing an endorsement video for Skims because Kanye owns 5%.
CelebritiesAs Kanye West’s businesses continue to collapse following his antisemitic rants, he’s kissed his billionaire status goodbye—but there also may be some collateral Kardashian-sized damage. In a TikTok posted over the weekend, Bethenny Frankel said, after learning that Ye still holds 5 percent of Kim Kardashian’s Skims, that she would be taking down a previous video in which she sang praises of a Skims product, Page Six reports.
“It’s come to my attention that a certain individual who I will not discuss— because I decided I am cleansing them from any conversation that I have anywhere—that individual owns 5 percent of Skims,” the Jewish
Real Housewives of New York City alum told her 1 million followers in the video, refusing to mention West by name.
“This is a multi-billion dollar company, so if someone owns 5 percent of it, it’s actually very significant,” Frankel continued. Her original review was for a pair of Skims socks that Frankel said felt “nice” and “luxurious,” and which she complimented for their versatility. True to her word, the video is no longer available on TikTok.
@bethennyfrankel Getting educated #gettingeducated #learning #youknowitall #youalwaysknow #hereswhy
Frankel, ever the businesswoman, said she was removing the endorsement because “it’s part of a conversation about who brands align with.” Earlier this month, she slammed Ye and other “attention-grabbing billionaires.” (Frankel’s net worth is reportedly $80 million—so take her critique of the wealthy with a grain of salt.)
Kardashian has made a small effort to distance herself from Ye’s antisemitism, denouncing his words in an Instagram story last week: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end,” she wrote.
While Kardashian might have thought that this would be enough to wash her hands of West’s antisemitism, reporting suggests his beliefs likely aren’t news to her. On Thursday, CNN reported that those close to the rapper have been privy to his admiration of Adolf Hitler for years: “Four sources told CNN that West had originally suggested the title ‘Hitler’ for his 2018 album that eventually released as ‘Ye.’” Kardashian and West were married at the time—and if West’s stake in Skims is any indication, the couple was very involved in each other’s business endeavors. It’s hard to imagine that his ex-wife—if not her entire family—was unaware of his antisemitism.
While a booming billion dollar company losing the support of one influencer (and merely a millionaire one at that) isn’t something to mourn, Frankel’s decision reveals the extent to which West’s antisemitism has had ripple effects on anyone who remains associated with him.