If his unabashed Donald Trump advocacy and anti-Biden “presidential campaign” weren’t enough to annoy fans in 2018 and 2020, his November 2022 declaration of going “death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” and Drink Champs double-down was the death knell for many others. Unlike the response to his 2018 appearance on TMZ, where he declared that “Slavery was a choice,” the Ye backlash wasn’t relegated to angry tweets — he lost his billionaire status. Adidas discontinued their ongoing partnership with the Yeezy brand (though they still share his shoes), talent agency CAA dropped him as a client, JP Morgan closed his bank account, and Balenciaga and Vogue severed ties with him. Since then, reports have surfaced about corrosive working environments at his companies. His former “chief of staff,” Lauren Pisciotta, recently accused him of emotional distress and sexual misconduct, including masturbating in front of her, sending her sexual videos of himself, and also sending explicit text messages; Ye’s lawyers have called the accusations “baseless.” This week, Rolling Stone reported on a lawsuit brought by a former Ye staffer who says he was hired to work as an investigator to trail his wife, Bianca Censori, as well as dig up information on his ex, Kim Kardashian. The suit also alleged that Ye displayed patterns of “erratic behavior” after taking nitrous oxide.

For many, Ye’s mounting misdeeds have eroded whatever bright-eyed memory they carry of him as the ambitious, soul-sampling dreamer from Chicago. Perhaps Asia provides a refuge from what may be an irrevocably damaged reputation in America. Unlike some stars who say or do the wrong thing and see their earnings potential plummet, Ye is still a global powerhouse. His worldwide fans, for better or worse, have decided that his comments and allegations don’t overpower their connection with his music. And though there were Korean X users who called out his appearance in Seoul, there are others in the region who may not understand America’s social climate. Perhaps the full harm of “slavery was a choice” or “death con 3” doesn’t inherently distress fans in China or South Korea the way it does the Jewish people or Black people directly impacted in the U.S. That means their perception of Ye can be more about his music. {read}