“Zero tolerance for anti-Semitism”: SNL spoofs Kanye West’s visit to Skechers office amid ongoing controversy

Several labels and businesses, including Adidas, have terminated their partnerships with Kanye West following his relentless anti-Semitic comments on social media and interviews. Soon after that, the rapper visited a Skechers corporate office in LA, but he was escorted from the building. The incident was quickly parodied by Saturday Night Live in a hilarious skit.

In the spoof, many Skechers employees, played by Saturday Night Live cast members, came in turns and talked about how the company rejected Ye, after his anti-Semitic comments. In the ad, a Skechers rep, played by Cecily Strong, said:

“Here at Skechers, we pride ourselves on two things, making stylish, comfortable shoes at an affordable price, and having zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.”

The spoof video was uploaded by SNL on Twitter with the caption:

“Skechers has an important announcement.”

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“We said NO and immediately escorted him out of the building”: SNL went all out in the Kanye West spoof

In the video uploaded on social media, the staff is emphasizing on the fact that Kanye West came to the Skechers office, but the company outrightly rejected the proposal and said no to West. A staffer, played by Bowen Yang, said:

“That’s why earlier this week Kanye West showed up at our corporate office, asking to work with us. We said ‘no’ and immediately escorted him out of the building.”

In the spoof, SNL actors as Skechers staff also hilariously spoke about how they are still flattered by the fact that out of all the brands, West still chose Skechers. Strong as a Skechers executive, pointing this out, said:

“We also want to point out that of all companies he could’ve approached and get rejected by, he chose Skechers.”

They vowed to never work with West. The skit also threw shade on Adidas, who recently dropped Kanye West. Strong's character pointed out the fact that Adidas took many days to decide not to work with West.

They also made fun of the fact that what would the collaboration between Skechers and Ye be called anyway. To which, Yang's character said:

“Skeezy?”

Yang's character then said,

“I’m sure Kanye will find a morally dubious company to work with instead.”

The video then cut to Michael J. Lindell, played by James Austin Johnson, announcing a My Pillow collaboration with Ye.

The Skechers skit received over 20,000 views in just a few hours. This came soon after Skechers issued an official statement on Kanye’s “unauthorized” visit to their office.

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Skechers said that Kanye arrived in their office “unannounced”

On October 26, 2022, Skechers issued an official statement on Kanye's visit to a Skechers corporate office in Los Angeles. In the statement, the company talked about how West arrived in the office “unannounced” and “uninvited.” The statement read:

“Kanye West – also referred to as Ye – arrived unannounced and without invitation at one of Skechers’ corporate offices in Los Angeles.”

They also said that Kanye was “engaged in unauthorized filming.” Two Skechers employees were quick to escort the rapper out. The company said:

“Skechers is not considering and has no intention of working with West. We condemn his recent divisive remarks and do not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech.”

Skechers issued an official statement clarifying that Kanye walked in unannounced, and the brand had no intention of meeting or working with him. (Image via Skechers)

The statement again reiterated the fact that West dropped in uninvited, and Skechers has no intention of working with the rapper in the near future. Kanye hasn't released any official statement about the whole Skechers fiasco.