Skip to Main Content
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

No One Wants to Help Kanye West Get Out of Debt

A GoFundMe campaign has raised a little over $1,500, a far cry from the $53 million he "needs."

February 17, 2016
Kanye West

Kanye West's $53 million of debt won't be paid down by his fans.

A GoFundMe campaign launched earlier this week to help the artist raise the funds he claims to need. But the effort hasn't worked out so well. The page, created by Jeremy Piatt, has raised just about $1,500 thus far.

In a tweetstorm earlier this week, West claimed to be $53 million in debt. 

"Yes I am personally rich and I can buy furs and houses for my family," he later clarified. "But I need access to more money in order to bring more beautiful ideas to the world. If I spent my money on my ideas I could not afford to take care of my family. I am in a place that so many artist[s] end up."

He subsequently tweeted that Mark Zuckerberg should donate $1 billion to West's artistic endeavors. It does not appear that Zuckerberg responded to West's request, though it would likely have made more sense for West to appeal to the Facebook CEO on his own platform.

The GoFundMe page appears to be a tongue-in-cheek response to Kanye's plight. In his reason for launching the GoFundMe campaign, he said that it's time we all "open our hearts and wallets for Kanye today."

"Sure he is personally rich and can buy furs and houses for his family, but without our help, the true genius of Kanye West can't be realized," Piatt wrote. "As Kanye West has told us time and time again he is the 'greatest living artist and greatest artist of all time.' Great artists need to be supported financially to achieve their full potential."

Not surprisingly, many GoFundMe users have joined in the fun, writing comments that poke fun at West. As of this writing, there are more comments than contributions, almost 4,000. Not many were fans of West's plea.

For his part, Kanye hasn't talked about the GoFundMe page, though his latest tweet acknowledges that "My number one enemy has been my ego." Instead, he's been promoting his new album, "The Life of Pablo," which is only available on Jay Z's streaming service Tidal (save for 30-second snippets on his website).

Get Our Best Stories!

Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning.

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.


Thanks for signing up!

Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!

Sign up for other newsletters

TRENDING

About Don Reisinger

Don Reisinger is a longtime freelance technology journalist and product reviewer. He covers everything from Apple to gaming to start-ups. You can follow him on Twitter @donreisinger.

Read Don's full bio

Read the latest from Don Reisinger