How Ye’s Super Bowl media agency is protecting other clients after his antisemitic actions

The media agency that helped Ye (formerly Kanye West) air a regional ad that led viewers to an antisemitic message during the Super Bowl has ended its relationship with the rapper and is playing damage control as it attempts to shield its other clients in the wake of potential backlash. The agency, U.S. International Media (or USIM), has removed any mention of its brand clients from its website, following the regional ad that linked to an online shop selling a swastika-emblazoned T-shirt. The damage that USIM is trying to control is a cautionary tale for brands to know precisely who else their agencies are partnering with. Even though USIM has taken measures to reduce the impact on its brands, including cutting ties with Ye, the agency remains connected to the fallout and is now having to redouble efforts to prevent even unassociated clients from negative exposure. USIM’s homepage referenced brand partners including Buffalo Wild Wings, Crunch Fitness and In-N-Out, as of Monday, but these clients have since been removed, as has the client section of its website. USIM also removed its contact page from its navigation bar, as well as a link to the agency’s contact information at the bottom of the main page. Buffalo Wild Wings, Crunch Fitness and In-N-out did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It is unclear whether USIM’s scrubbing of its clients’ names was a safety measure decided by the agency or requested by the brands. USIM did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. “Brands are concerned not just about their own values, but about the values of their partners as well. They don’t want their partners’ problems—even in a secondary or tertiary capacity—to stick to them,” said Laura Graham, an instructor of business communications and advertising faculty at North Carolina Central University. USIM, which placed the media buy last week with Fox on behalf of Ye’s apparel company, Yeezy, LLC, ceased its partnership with the rapper days before the Super Bowl ad even ran. The decision was made after USIM saw the rapper make “disparaging and vile” comments on X early Friday morning, Doug Livingston, USIM’s president and chief operating officer, told Ad Age ahead of the removal of clients from its site. Many of these comments were antisemitic in nature and build on a history of hateful rhetoric that Ye has espoused over the past several years. The Super Bowl commercial turned out to be another such act, as Ye used it to promote antisemitic apparel. The 30-second ad, which aired in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta, was a selfie video of the rapper in a dentist’s office, explaining how he had spent his ad budget on purchasing the spot. He then told viewers to visit Yeezy.com, which was selling the brand’s typical nondescript clothing. Within the hour of the ad airing, every item on the website was removed except a white T-shirt with a black swastika emblazoned on the front, according to Variety. The $20 shirt was available as of Monday evening, despite a social media firestorm. As of Tuesday morning, the Yeezy site had been taken down. Shopify also drew criticism because it was hosting the sale of the T-shirt. The e-commerce platform eventually removed Yeezy’s store from its services. “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify,” a spokesperson for the shopping company said. When USIM placed the media buy for Ye’s commercial last week, the agency expected the ad to promote general Yeezy apparel, USIM’s Livingston said. The agency submitted the creative of Ye at the dentist to Fox for its legal review, which was eventually approved. The unusual creative behind Ye’s spot had precedent; the rapper had used the same low production value and video-selfie style for a regional ad during last year’s Super Bowl. As with the 2025 ad, last year’s spot also hinged on Ye explaining that he ran out of money to produce the ad, before telling viewers to visit Yeezy.com. Ye also ran a local ad during the Grammys earlier this month. For several years, Ye has demonstrated an inclination toward unpredictability and inciting hate. In 2022, he was suspended from X (then Twitter) for posting an image of a swastika inside of a Star of David, and on podcasts has previously praised Hitler and demonstrated sympathy for Nazis. “Kanye’s antisemitic rhetoric is not new—it is widely known,” said Katie Rappaport, executive VP of client services of marketing agency BMF. “Little vetting would have been needed to unearth this, and it is hard to believe it was not something the agencies or people involved discussed.” USIM did not provide any other services to Yeezy, LLC, such as for strategy or production, for Sunday’s ad, Livingston said. Livingston did not respond to a request for comment on why USIM considered Ye a viable partner or on the terms of the partnership, such as how much money the agency received for placing the media buy. The tirade on X that precipitated USIM’s ceasing of its partnership with Ye began last Thursday evening and continued into Sunday when the rapper posted hateful rhetoric, including disparaging comments about Jewish people and praise for Hitler and misogyny. USIM’s decision to cease its relations with Ye was not over fear that the rapper was going to act deceptively through his Super Bowl ad but rather because the agency does not tolerate hate speech, Livingston said. USIM’s cancellation of its partnership did not nullify the media buy or trip any alarms at Fox because the purchase was non-cancellable, according to Livingston. Fox was another target of criticism on social media for allowing the ad to run at all. Fox did not respond to a request for comment. Ye continued to rant on X into Sunday, ending with the rapper thanking X owner Elon Musk for the space to vent. By early Monday morning, the rapper had deactivated his X account.

How Ye’s Super Bowl media agency is protecting other clients after his antisemitic actions

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