(WSVN) - A South Florida man incensed with Kanye West’s controversial comments on Twitter lit a match to some pricey kicks in order to make a statement.
The recent antisemitic comments by the Grammy-winning artist left Danny Shiff burning mad.
“I’m very much actually for free speech, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what got me going on this one is someone like Kanye West, people like him cannot use the massive platform to spread this kind of hate,” he said.
Consequently, Shiff said, he chose to sacrifice his Yeezy sneaker collection.
“So I thought, ‘There’s not much I can do.’ I bought 40 pairs of Yeezys, so I’m going to burn them all,” he said.
Shiff posted a video that has since gone viral showing him burning several of his sneakers on a fire pit.
“I’m burning them to try to make a statement, ’cause I’m never going to wear them again or support him again,” he said.
The price tag for the shoes? More than $15,000, or around $500 a pair.
Now, Shiff said, he’s donating two pairs to charity for every pair he burned.
“A lot of people made comments about, ‘Oh, why are you burning them, it’s such a waste, you should donate them,’ which is true. It is a waste to burn them,” he said, “but I totally would make a much stronger statement, and I did say that for every pair, I’m going to buy two new pairs of shoes and donate them to charity, which I did.”
The backlash comes days after West, who currently identifies himself as Ye, wrote in a tweet that he would soon go to “death con 3 on Jewish people.”
The comments have not only drawn the ire of fans but also cost the rapper millions of dollars.
On Tuesday, Adidas pulled the plug on their partnership with West, specifically on the brand producing the expensive Yeezy shoes.
In a statement, an Adidas spokesperson wrote, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Adidas immediately stopped payments to West.
Luxury fashion house Balenciaga has cut ties as well.
As of Wednesday, the rapper has refused to apologize. Instead, he doubled down on his remarks during a recent interview with Piers Morgan.
“Do you now regret saying ‘Defcon 3 on Jewish people?’ Are you sorry you said that?” asked Morgan.
“No, absolutely not,” said West.
Madame Tussauds has removed West’s wax figure from public view at their London museum following the controversy.
Meanwhile, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that for the time being, the platform won’t be removing West’s music since it does not break any of their policies.
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