A bizarre controversy has erupted over Fox-owned affiliates airing a Kanye West Super Bowl commercial promoting swastika shirts. West recently returned to X with shocking rants that praised Adolf Hitler, declaring himself a Nazi before his account was suspended. The disgraced rapper also purchased a Super Bowl ad for his website, Yeezy.com, inviting viewers from a dentist’s chair in a low-budget, surreal commercial.
However, the ad turned out to be a bait-and-switch. According to Variety, the ad originally showcased standard merchandise, but afterward, it was replaced with a single white T-shirt featuring a swastika. Kanye West’s Yeezy.com advertisement stunned viewers during the Super Bowl with its bizarre tone, but what happened next shocked station executives and media buyers even more: West quickly altered his website, post-ad airing, to sell a swastika T-shirt for $20 each. Prior to the ad’s airing, Yeezy.com included a range of non-branded clothing like shirts and pants—nothing controversial or problematic. A quick check confirmed that the swastika T-shirt was not present when the ad initially ran in Los Angeles.
Thankfully, the commercial was not broadcast nationally but was shown in three Fox-owned local markets: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Atlanta, where millions still witnessed it. Selling Nazi merchandise seems easy to condemn, yet it hasn’t been so simple for the Fox Corporation.
So far, neither Fox nor its sports department has offered any comment on the ad or West’s behavior. The Anti-Defamation League has stepped in, urging Fox Sports to denounce both the commercial and West’s hate speech. The ADL petition states:
At the Super Bowl, hate took a front-rowseat. Kanye West promoted an ad featuring a link to swastika t-shirts, broadcasting it to millions on live TV. Just days earlier, his dangerous rants on X displayed praise for Hitler and self-identification as a Nazi, spreading antisemitic vitriol. In 2022, the ADL documented 30 incidents of harassment, assault, and vandalism connected to Kanye’s online outbursts. We refuse to allow hate to prevail. Bigotry carries consequences. Join the ADL in demanding that Fox Sports denounce this ad and reject giving hate a platform.
When contacted by Awful Announcing, Fox did not respond to multiple inquiries regarding Kanye West’s Super Bowl commercial following our story yesterday. A request to Fox Sports was redirected to Fox TV Stations, which offered no commentary on the situation. The Wrap highlighted a similar silence from Fox.
One might feel some sympathy for Fox and the local stations that aired this ad—it contained nothing overtly offensive, and if the website was altered only after the commercial aired, there’s limited accountability for the stations involved. However, it raises the question of why these Fox affiliates allowed the commercial airing given West’s previous ranting about being a Nazi prior to the Super Bowl. Perhaps this could have been an indicator of potential issues, warranting cancellation of the commercials. Yet, it is truly astonishing that Fox has not commented on the Kanye West controversy, as it is quite evident what transpired. In fact, it is not just astounding; it is incomprehensible. They should simply acknowledge the situation by stating regret and affirming that Nazis are bad. It shouldn’t be that hard.
