Shopify removed the Yeezy store from its platform after it started selling a t-shirt with a swastika.
According to Bloomberg and NBC News, the Yeezy store, run by Ye (better known as Kanye West), removed all items on Monday and only sold a singular $20 shirt with a swastika and the product name HH-01, which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said stands for “Heil Hitler.” During the Super Bowl, Ye ran an ad telling people to visit the store, which was hosted by Ottawa-based Shopify.
However, a spokesperson for the Canadian e-commerce company told The Verge that it didn’t remove the store because of the swastikas.
“All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms, so we removed them from Shopify,” the spokesperson said.
Bloomberg reports that Shopify removed a clause banning “hateful content” from its rules last year.
Independent journalist Rachel Gilmore, formerly of Global News, obtained internal messages from Shopify about the Yeezy store, including from the company’s general counsel, Jessica Hertz. According to Gilmore, Hertz said Shopify shut down the Yeezy store because it didn’t “engage in authentic commerce.” Hertz went on to call it a “stunt” and said it wasn’t a “good faith attempt to make money.”
Additionally, Gilmore reported that Shopify has a history of hosting stores that sell merchandise with hateful content, like Nazi memorabilia. It also reportedly powers a store for Alex Jones, a far-right radio show host who falsely claimed the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was fake.
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