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Kanye West and Accused Rapist Push ‘White Lives Matter’ – Rolling Stone

October 18, 2022

After Kanye West’s incendiary White Lives Matter shirts at his YZY Paris fashion show earlier this month, there was no telling where the graphic tees would end up. But in a video posted by Ian Connor – a West associate and popular stylist who has been accused of sexual assault by at least half a dozen women – it appears West’s team gave away the shirts for free around the neighborhood. Los Angeles’ Skid Row Sunday Night.

“Courtesy of Kanye West,” says a voice in the quick video, the camera panning to show a busy street and a sprinter van loaded with boxes. A man wearing a Homeboy Industries shirt – a non-profit organization dedicated to rehabilitating former LA gang members – walks towards the car as the man filming encourages him to ‘hang it’ on their booth of food.

Connor also posted an image of a woman posing with the oversized T-shirt, captioning the message “Load 1 – Skid Röw”. (A source close to the drops claimed rolling stone that there are plans for a second set of drops.)

It appears West is considering offloading the shirts for free after claiming that American Apparel founder Dov Charney, who now runs Los Angeles Apparel, refused to release the shirts made by his company after West said he was about to go “death con 3” on “Jewish people.” (A source close to Charney declined to comment on West’s shirts or claims.)

Connor has frequently posted about his recent collaborations with West, such as the “Tremendez” t-shirt West wore while filming the recent RevoltTV show. Drink champions episode, where the rapper falsely claimed George Floyd’s death was caused by fentanyl, made more anti-Semitic comments and said shit to Kim Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend Pete Davidson.

The shirt West wore in the since-removed video is a depiction of Tremaine Emory, the supreme creative director and founder of streetwear brand Denim Tears. West chose Emory after coming to the defense of vogue stylist and editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson who had criticized West’s White Lives Matter shirts, and lambasted West for accusing LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault of “killing” their close friend, designer Virgil Abloh . (Abloh died of cancer last November.)

Connor also took credit for being the “creative director” of another shirt which was a riff of Muhammad Ali fighting with Superman, but with West as the legendary boxer and Emory as the superhero.

“I love it, I love it”, West reportedly texted Connor, according to a screenshot he postedand a few days later Drink champions host NORE was later seen wearing the shirt. Over the weekend, West was spotted wearing another shirt that featured Emory’s mouth covered by a white hand wearing an American pinstripe and stars shirt.

Connor’s re-emergence into West’s inner circle is surprising, considering the stylist hasn’t been publicly linked to West since around 2016. Prior to that, Connor was tagged as West’s fashion muse, modeling in his shows Yeezy and brand consultant.

The then 23-year-old was hip-hop’s go-to stylist and fashion consultant, frequently working with A$AP Rocky and the A$AP Mob at the height of their influence, and was close to Abloh, including Off -White the label was developing a cult following. Connor posed for Vogue Italywas featured frequently on Hypebeast and launched the successful clothing brand Sickö, which has been worn by Skepta, Zack Bia and others.

But in June 2016, rapper Theophilus London claimed that West had fired Connor. Connor’s estrangement also coincided with at least half a dozen women – including Chicago artist Jean Deaux – coming forward to accuse Connor of sexual assault. (In July 2016, Connor denied the allegations, saying Widely“I do not tolerate rape and I have never raped anyone. Why force someone to do something they don’t want to do? Any forced situation is not cool. Connor did not immediately respond to rolling stonerequest for comment.)

Amber Rose, who dated West from 2008 to 2010, claimed The daily beast in 2018, 21 women had contacted her privately about Connor, saying she was disappointed that more men in the industry had not responded to the accusations. “I do not know why [Connor’s] still walking around,” she said. “I’m disgusted with him, because I really believe he did everything they said he did. It’s really, really sad.