Kanye West– wasn’t he just in Trump’s office praising and hugging the reviled president? Hasn’t his Trump already hurt his businesses? Yes and yes.

Now Kanye has Tweeted that he’s leaving politics, getting back to fashion. He’s ditching Trump and Candace Owens all the controversy of “slavery is a choice.”

What happened? $$$$$ ka ching. Follow the money.

Kanye is about to release three new styles of sneaker through Adidas. His current Yeezy’s aren’t selling. Now it’s Christmas, and he’s got to make his deal with Adidas work.

Second, on November 23rd comes an album postponed from a few weeks ago called “Yandhi.” The prior album, “Ye,” was a bust. “Yandhi” has to actually sell copies. Right now, he’s lost his base in the black audience and most of the white audience. “Ye” sold 60,000 actual copies, 250K all in with streaming. That doesn’t pay for first class trips around the world.

But a new article in trade paper Footwear News is devastating to Kanye’s sneaker brand Yeezy. The article cites a study done by Spotted.com and states: “Kanye’s behavior has also had a large impact on consumers’ perception of him, with Spotted’s data showing that consumers see Kanye as “wacky,” ranking higher than 97 percent of other celebrities for this attribute.”

More from the article:

According to Comenos — whether solo or with the Kardashians by his side — Spotted does not find West’s fame to be worth the danger.

“Overall, he’s an extremely risky choice, and not someone I’d be recommending to a brand in the fashion space…There are a lot celebrities out there that can help a brand be perceived as more edgy — and they don’t have these other negative qualities [such as being] erratic, rebellious or negatively outspoken, where Kanye ranks high.”

SOURCE