Shopify has said that Kanye West‘s website was taken down due to the potential for fraud – not because it was selling a Swastika T-shirt.
That’s according to a leaked internal staff announcement from the Canadian multinational e-commerce company, which was obtained by The Logic. The message is said to have been sent by general counsel Jess Hertz via Shopify’s Slack account.
In it, Hertz said the swastika-emblazoned T-shirt listed for sale by West on his Yeezy store was “a stunt” and “not a good faith attempt to make money”. She added that the move “brought with it the real risk of fraud”, with this being the main reason that the store was subsequently shut down.
Following the removal of the site, Shopify spokesperson Caty Gray said in a public statement that it had closed the Yeezy online shop because the “merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices”. She explained that this was a violation of the company’s terms.
Hertz provided more information in the leaked message. Despite citing the fraud risk as the reason for the closure, she did hit out at West’s swastika T-shirt – calling it “vile, disgusting and inexcusable”. She added that “everyone agrees with that”.
However, Hertz wrote that this opinion did not factor into Shopify’s decision to remove West’s website. “Opinion doesn’t factor in here,” she explained. “What matters is our terms of service.”
BREAKING: Kanye West unveils a new t-shirt with a sw*stika.
“I’ve wanted to make this tee shirt for years My greatest performance art piece thus far” pic.twitter.com/LdqQSrprJ5
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) February 8, 2025
Hertz said Shopify’s focus on its terms, acceptable use policy and other policies meant it could “remove as much subjectivity as possible” when making decisions about moderating its content.
But according to a source, numerous Jewish employees at Shopify felt uncomfortable and unsafe that the firm had kept the store online for so long, with the T-shirt being available to buy. This is said to have been raised by one staff member on the company’s Slack channel.
Hertz’s internal statement acknowledged that Shopify “did take time to come to this outcome”, but explained that “reactive termination of a store is never good for our ecosystem”.
The white T-shirt displayed a large black swastika on the chest, and was listed as “HH-01” – a possible reference to the ‘Heil Hitler’ chant that would accompany Nazi gestures. It was priced at $20.
The Yeezy.com website currently displays an error screen, along with the message: “This store is unavailable.” West purchased a Super Bowl advert last Sunday (February 9) to direct people to his website.
Shopify does not pre-screen items listed via its platform. However, the company’s policy on acceptable use states that merchants can’t do anything illegal and “can’t call for, or threaten, violence against specific people or groups”.
The Yeezy website used technology from Shopify such as its Shop Pay checkout function. This earns the company a fee when a customer completes a transaction with the online store.
Additionally, Shopify reported its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday (February 11) – revealing $2.81billion in revenue in the fourth quarter (up 31.2 per cent year on year). Shopify president Harley Finkelstein did not answer a question relating to Yeezy.COM on the earnings call.
West has recently posted a series of anti-Semitic tweets, saying that he “loves Hitler” and declaring himself to be “a Nazi”. His X/Twitter account has since been deactivated following the bizarre and highly controversial rants. He has also been dropped by his talent agency.
The rapper’s outbursts also saw him withdraw his apology to the Jewish community for past anti-Semitic comments.
Following his previous remarks, West lost brand deals with Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap, and had his honorary degree from The School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago rescinded. Adidas later donated the proceeds from remaining stocks of West’s Yeezy shoes to organisations fighting anti-Semitism.
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