Shopify removed Ye’s swastika shirt. Now it’s popping up elsewhere on the internet

[ResidentialBusiness]

In an ad that aired in select markets during Sunday’s Super Bowl, Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, encouraged viewers to visit his website, Yeezy.com. The site originally listed a variety of merchandise, but right after the ad aired, quickly limited the selection to a single $20 white T-shirt emblazoned with a large black swastika. The site listed the product under the name “HH-01,” which, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is code for “Heil Hitler.”

Ye’s site hosted the shirt, but it was sold through the ecommerce platform Shopify. The shirt remained live until Shopify removed the listing this morning, and now searching Yeezy.com leads to an error page.

While the T-shirt is no longer available through Shopify, Fast Company found that one reseller, as of this morning, had already listed the shirt for sale on eBay at a huge markup of more than $600. This suggests there is a secondary market for the shirts following a day of sales on the original site.

[Screenshot: eBay]

Following an inquiry from Fast Company, eBay removed the listing. But this afternoon, another reseller posted a listing for the shirt that blurred out the swastika symbol, possibly as a workaround to eBay’s offensive items policy. eBay has since taken down this posting, as well.

The far-right has used similar codes and hate symbols during President Trump’s first term, and that practice is on the rise again. “The dog whistles in conservative politics have become bullhorns in the Trump era,” Robert Rowland, professor of communications at the University of Kansas, who studies Trump’s rhetoric, told Fast Company in 2021.

The incident calls into question how retailers should walk the line between upholding “free speech” and standing against hateful rhetoric—especially in an era when many major brands are walking back their commitments to DEI.

Shopify and eBay respond to Ye’s swastika shirt

In a statement to Fast Company on the takedown of the T-shirt listing, an eBay spokesperson said, “eBay has zero-tolerance for items that promote anti-Semitism or hate of any kind. eBay’s Offensive Items policy prohibits the listing of anti-Semitic items, including any items from after 1933 that include a swastika. The shirts in question are covered by this policy and eBay is actively blocking or removing any listings for them. Sellers who violate eBay policies may face sanctions up to, and including, a permanent suspension.”

In reference to the removal of the Yeezy website, a Shopify spokesperson stated, “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.”

Apparently, Shopify was aware of the T-shirt listing by Monday afternoon at the latest, but discouraged its support staff from commenting if any merchant clients reached out about the item, according to a report from The Logic.

This isn’t the first time that Shopify has faced criticism for accommodating items that could constitute hate speech. Back in June 2024, Shopify appeared to have updated its Acceptable Use Policy to remove a previous ban of “hateful content,” replacing it with a condition that sellers cannot “call for, or threaten, violence against specific people or groups.” Then, in November, Shopify drew backlash for hosting a store that posted merch denying the Holocaust and parodying the likeness of Anne Frank.

Shopify did not respond to Fast Company’s request for clarification on the distinction between Ye’s swastika t-shirt and the aforementioned listings, which appear to still be live at the time of this writing.

What this means for brands going forward

The HH-01 t-shirt came after Ye published a series of antisemitic tweets to his personal X account, including one claiming, “I’m going to normalize talking about Hitler,” which ultimately led to the shutdown of the account.

Ye has a storied history of falling out with business partners due to instances of hate speech. Back in 2022, longtime collaborator Adidas cut ties with the artist after he published a series of anti-Semitic comments. Other brands, including the talent agency CAA and the tech company Kano, also ended their partnerships with Ye at the time.

It’s possible that Ye expected his Shopify site to go down, and even with the shutdown of the Yeezy domain, he got what he wanted: an attention-grabbing stunt, and shirts featuring hate symbols on secondary markets, indicating either way that the political climate is creating a permission structure for hate groups to wear what was formerly dog whistles on the sleeve.

While Ye’s clash with Shopify is nothing new, it demonstrates a need for increased vigilance from companies like Shopify and eBay to screen their listings and act quickly to remove hateful products. Amidst a rising crackdown on DEI policies from the federal level, the onus lies on brands to take responsibility for harmful imagery.

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