Kanye West wore an outfit worth over $30,000 to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters

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Several celebrities have visited the protesters at the Occupy Wall Street gatherings throughout the world, including Tim Robbins, Penn Badgley, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin and Rachel McAdams. Many outlets have pointed out that celebrities are wealthy beyond most of our wildest dreams and are in no way part of the “99 percent” that OWS claims to represent. A lot of them are known activists, though, and it makes sense that they would lend their celebrity to a cause. Kanye West, not so much unless you count rallying against anyone who questions him. Kanye paid a visit to OWS, and he did it with his unique sense of defensive all-caps irony. He went down there in a getup worth $30,000, and that’s not counting his diamond teeth. I would say that $30k is more than most of those kids see in a year, but that’s not really accurate. Here’s more:

Kanye’s $30,000 protest outfit. If Kanye West visited Occupy Wall Street to protest corporate greed, he shouldn’t have worn a $355 Givenchy plaid shirt over an $82 Alexander Wang tee, $890 Balmain jeans, a $5,575 Love bracelet and a $23,500 Rolex watch. And to think, this was Kanye’s idea of “casual day!”

[From In Touch, print edition, October 31, 2011]

I would have given Kanye a pass if his outfit was worth say $3,000. That’s outrageous but it’s just your average really expensive outfit, with one of those high end watches that is ridiculously expensive instead of batsh*t insane expensive. Instead he wore a watch worth more than any car I’ve ever owned. (I buy used.) He also piled on the gold jewelry without even thinking twice about whether it was tasteless or not. What is the need for crap that costs this much? I guess if people will buy it, they’ll make it. It kind of proves the protesters’ point.

Oh and Kim Kardashian almost said “let them eat cake” in regard to the protestors, but she was merely observing that they were being served really decent dessert. “Inside Edition” had a segment a couple of nights ago about the chef who has been serving gourmet meals to 1,000 down at OWS every night. In this article about it in the NY Post they make it sound like the protesters are living high on the hog since they’re being given five star meals. It’s not like they’re demanding it. People are volunteering their time to help feed them, and for a long time they were getting free pizzas from well wishers around the world.

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photo credit: Fame

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35 Responses to “Kanye West wore an outfit worth over $30,000 to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters”

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  1. Kaboom says:

    If Herman Caine doesn’t work out, maybe the GOP can try out Kanye.

  2. Samigirl says:

    LMAO@Kaboom.

    I don’t get it. Doesn’t it defeat the purpose for a really, really, REALLY rich guy to be down there?
    I mean, I guess it’s nice that he’s showing his support, but it had to be a slap in the face to the vast majority of the people protesting.

  3. anemoneblue says:

    What people don’t understand is that these people are protesting not against capitalism, but against the blatant disregard of the very wealthy corporations against the middle class and how the big corporations get bailed out, yet their CEO’s get multimillion dollar bonuses. Where do you think it comes from? The big banks with their hidden charges, how there is no real regulation from the government regarding banks and the financial district, the people who steal life savings from investors,the lobyists in Washington that represent all these big corporations who do not serve anyone but the big fat cats……and so on………
    There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, but not at the expense and tears of others.

  4. mln76 says:

    One of the protest main funders was a REPUBICLAN who supports Mitt Romney LOL. Anyone can believe that Wall St should be held accountable for their abuses but Kanye’s decadence and greed are part of the problem not the solution. Oh and the fact that Kim is too stupid to know she shouldn’t use any cake analogies in regards to protesters makes me almost like her for the first time.

  5. Franny says:

    Back when we were having the protests here in Madison, WI, people from all over the world were ordering pizzas from our local (delicous) pizza place. It was actually pretty awesome that so many people were backing up our government workers.

  6. Suzy from Ontario says:

    Yeah, kinda missing the whole point. Does he even understand what they are protesting or is he just an idiot?

  7. DarkEmpress says:

    I cannot stand Kanye. He grates on my nerves! I do have to slightly defend him. His outfit itself is not that expensive. I mean the cost of the jeans is outrageous and he could have gotten that entire look at walmart. However, most of the cost of his $30 000 wardrobe is his jewellery. Which to me, is ok. Because, Jewellery retains some of its value and can be passed on as heirlooms.

  8. Gabbo says:

    If you look up the word idiot in the dictionary, there you will find a photo of Kanye West.

  9. S says:

    Kanye is not the problem and his rolex? Rolex as a company is privatly owned, they pay all their workers awesome wages and the company owner spends alotof money for charity. Problem is politics and banking institutions in the US and that there is no separation anymore between them. So i give Kanye credits for his appearence. At least he went there, even if it was going to get him bad press.

  10. DarkEmpress says:

    I just have to add,my two cents about OWS. I think that what needs to be reformed is government. There needs to be an end to lobbyists and politicians accepting donations from anyone. England has rules on limiting the expenditures of political parties during campaigns, but in my opinion they are not strict enough. I do not think democracy is served when politicians can be influenced by the money they get from their benefactors. In Canada political parties get funded by the public depending on how much of the popular vote they receive. Parliamentary system. The current conservative gov. here is trying to get rid of that and make most funding private. I think the rules should be stricter.

  11. Beatrix says:

    I don’t think money means what it used to for this guy. He doesn’t consciously wear an outfit and assess its value immediately before he steps out of the house, at least not without trying to. I think he leads an extravagant life and $890 Balmain jeans (that’s a ridiculous price to ever pay for jeans)are just what he is used to as his norm. He’s utterly faux-pas-ing here, but I don’t think he was in any way aware of it. And I’m not too sure what his real stance on this issue would be. I understand that some people say that the fight isn’t against capitalism, but the major notion behind a working capitalist system is the acquisition of or the ability to acquire wealth. The capitalist system isn’t in trouble and it isn’t in equilibrium of any kind, it is the actual problem.

  12. Pyewacket says:

    Kanye is an ignorant loser.

    End of story.

  13. midnightmoon says:

    @DarkEmpress: I agree w/what you say, but puhleez-Britain has been going down a horrific path, just like the US. Have you not been reading about the hacking scandals? Everyone is in bed w/everyone else-the media, Scotland Yard, the politicians. The invasion of privacy is as bad as it is here. We’re being punked & our individual rights are being swept away like garbage in most countries. The politicians are simply taking orders now-or ELSE. Please google the Bilderburgers. Thx for listening. Oh, and Kanye, to me, seems to be a very talented oaf, but if he’s spending one MINUTE at OWS, GOOD ON HIM!! Take care all.

  14. Jackie says:

    to quote u.s. president obama, ‘what a jackass’.

  15. ZigZagZoey says:

    I HATE Kanye, and I hate rich people.

  16. Faye says:

    Way to not get it, Kanye. But that’s not surprising. He doesn’t get anything.

  17. WillyNilly says:

    @anemoneblue Not at all trying to start a fight but I have seen many many many posts on other blogs related to OWS in which they actually say something along the lines of ‘down with capatilism’. It may not be prevalent with your peers but it is a shared sentiment among a number of people. And that’s kind of the point about the anti-OWS, that there really isn’t a shared value.

  18. Stubbylove says:

    This guy is the biggest douche on the planet.

  19. The Bobster says:

    Hey, you happen to BE the 1%, you Bush-hating phoney.

  20. Denise says:

    The current President is currently the recipient of the most funds donated to his political campaign by Wall Street ever, a whopping $16 million dollars. Barney Frank announced his support for OWS right before a fundraiser held on his behalf by wall street bankers. I am a Libertarian and I like to get all of my facts before I jump on any hate bandwagon. Celebrities just like to show up because it’s cool and hip to be radical. The country is in a mess and that is the reality of the situation.

  21. Kim says:

    All these protestors arent contributing anything to the American economy while they are sitting on their butts protesting. They are hurting the economy being out of work. And YES there are MANY jobs out there. Maybe not high paying glamourous jobs but McDonalds etc is ALWAYS hiring. Of course these people are above those types of jobs. I say any job that pays and feeds your family is a job!

    Go to any third world country and these people would kill to work a minimum wage job! Americans poor and rich, have become greedy.

    Stop whining that you arent rich & contribute something of value. If all these protestors donated their time to old folks homes or the homeless or childrens homes, etc. they would at least be making good use of their time and helping someone else. All they are doing now is whining, not changing anything and bringing down the economy.

  22. Jover says:

    Thank you denise and kim; kanye is just a brainless douche – if OWS takes an idiot like kanye as their supporter they deserved to be laughed at – btw, three weeks ago i was in ny and went down and debated some of them – they are not all as bright and idealistic as their fervent supporters believe – some are just bored and enjoying the limelight – I demonstrate therefore I am.

  23. BlackMamba says:

    Kanye is a very rich man, anything he owns(no matter how ugly) is probably worth a fortune. What was he suppose to do when he decided to support OWS? Go buy an outfit at old navy and shoes from Payless?

  24. Staci says:

    Good points anemoneblue, but unchecked capitalist policies lead to all of the spot-on things you reference. I would also add that even if the numbers in the article that Celebitchy referenced are accurate in terms of what the protestors earn (and I don’t know how they got those numbers), they still add up to only 30%. I think it can confidently be said that most of the people protesting probably earn less that Kanye’s outfit. Also…even if you make $50,000 a year, if you have massive student loan debt (one of the things being protested), mortgage or car debt, and other sources of debt, kids, etc, $50,000/year may not go far.

  25. Clark says:

    Kanye has run out of feet to stuff in his mouth. He really ought to leave the public forum and dig ditches for a living.

  26. Clark says:

    It’s difficult to decide which is more retarded: Wearing such and expensive outfit, or having paid that much for something he could have found at Goodwill.

  27. tripmom says:

    Honestly, I’m almost starting to feel bad for the dude. There’s no way he sat at home thinking, “How funny would it be if I went down there in $30,000 worth of bling. Ha ha ha ha.” He’s clearly TRYING to do what he thinks will make people like him, and trying to do the right thing, and he still can’t get it right. Poor idiot.

  28. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    How did they figure out how much his clothes cost?

    I don’t understand the outrage. I already know that he’s rich beyond belief, so why should he go to the trouble of insulting my intelligence by slumming it for kudos? Because all of the other fawned upon celebrites showing up at this rally are retiring to the favelas once this operation sputters out and expires. I’m supposed to condemn him over all of his peers because he was the only one who forgot to leave his diamond diaphragm at home? An egregious display of wealth is exactly what it is, but what a shallow and vain string of events must have taken place if raiding a Sally Ann with your pet paparazzo is what passes as commendable.

    My Wall Street Shit-Fit Packet must have got lost in the mail, because I’m a pinko even by Canadian standards and in trying to learn what *this* is over the past week, I’ve found that I’m a big ol’ curmudgeon. What is this supposed to do? You might like the student but can’t give him an A if he turns in something that is hastily assembled, lacks clarity and specificity in objective, and doesn’t cohere to any pre-planned design with a nod to a plausible conclusion and how it’s going to get there. Compromises? Timelines? Dollar figures? They’re going to say no, so how do you deal with that. You may have the nobler cause but if the answer to ‘have you no shame?’ is ‘nope’, bellowing ‘shame on you’, start tightening up your approach.

    Awareness and accountability is just overly-broad parrot talk, now. We are aware of the problems and we are aware of a dog and pony show. The theives and devils deserve anything they get, but what is this movement really trying to do. The way that it’s been covered in the media suggests that this is essentially Burning Man with fancy hedge fund manager cocaine instead of acid. I want to say that they’re doing the rally a diservice, I don’t know where to find information that refutes that. The vagueness of the language doesn’t tell me much beyond the point that there in unhappiness in NYC, so I hear about accountability and awareness, I feel like I’m being given the ‘yeah, but I loosened it for you’ argument becuase it sounds rote and like something you would say at a Monsters of Empathy Box Social.

    Instead of casting aspersions on The Man and treating this opposition as an undifferentiated mass of darkness, that needs some good ol’ fashioned vanquishing (TBA) neglecting the empiricists knack for dissection, cataloguing, quantitative analysis and intellectual detachment, seems unwise. What happened after Tibet stopped being cool, was it just a Lillith Fair with fewer vulva and more chances to circle jerk? You can’t walk into a burger joint and order ‘one justice, please’, so why would it suffice here?

    As for the pants–ridiculous, but these aren’t that built Wall Street and you really want to get cynical it would be remiss to deny that at some point, we’ve had some amenities or another built on someone’s misery or duplicity. ‘It was the black kid’s pants’ doesn’t do a lot for me.

  29. Victoria says:

    Listen people Kanye lays out his double standards in All Falls Down.

    “Yeah I promise
    I’m so self-conscious
    That’s why you always
    See me with at least one of my watches
    Rollies and Pashas done drove me crazy
    I can’t even pronounce nothing
    Pass that Ver-Say-See
    Then I spent 400 bucks on this
    Just to be like, ‘Nig*a
    You ain’t up on this!’
    And I can’t even go to
    The grocery store
    Without some ones that’s clean
    And a shirt with a team
    It seems
    We living the american dream
    But the people highest up
    Got the lowest self esteem
    The prettiest people
    Do the ugliest things
    For the road to riches
    And diamond rings
    We shine because they hate us,
    Floss cause they degrade us
    We tryna buy back our 40 acres
    And for that paper,
    Look how low we a’stoop
    Even if you in a Benz,
    You still a nig*a in a coop/coupe

    Real shit. And that’s why I love him. He know it’s ridiculous to spend that type of money, and he also knows that he will still never be accepted by the “people” who really count in this country, but like most of us he also can’t help but crave all of the excess and BS that is wafted in his face. He admitted from the jump he is conflicted and has double standards even though he knows it’s mean t to destroy his culture and his people. I know how ya feel Yeezy.

  30. tripmom says:

    Brevity, people. It’s a virtue.

  31. Agnes says:

    He’s such an ignorant douche. Who will apparently do anything for some publicity. (I should have used ALL CAPS for that.)

  32. Mar1ey says:

    Look to your government, that is where the problems are. Politicians ,on both sides, are taking donations from large corporations, paying them back through policy, and then telling the public that corporate greed is the downfall of america. Our politicians are what is bringing about our destruction, and they need to be held accountable.

  33. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    I had to lose both of my arms in the Hundred Scrolldown Wars to secure my spot on the Free Will Gala guest list, but fortune smiled upon me when they were restored to me when my guardian angel visited me and made me swear a solemn oath to never do anything with them ever again. Not terribly fun, but it’s inactive–a knight in apathetic armour. Well, with all of the handshakes and hugs people expected out of me after my miraculous recovery, you can see why I had no option but to have the arms blown off again. You want to be enslaved by those knuckled tyrants or do you wanna be somebody and refuse to scrub in, forevermore? Destiny calling–don’t pick it up!

  34. Darren says:

    Wow. I mean for Kanye to spend that much on clothes, and to still look like an out of work pimp… that’s a fail.

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