Adidas ends Kanye West partnership over antisemitism, hate speech
Reuters
Adidas is terminating its partnership with Kanye West
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the German company said.
“Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” it said, using the rapper’s artist name.
A lawyer representing Kanye West did not respond to a request for comment.
Ending the partnership and the production of Yeezy
Adidas put the partnership under review earlier in October “after repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation.”
Ye has courted controversy in recent months by publicly ending major corporate tie-ups and due to outbursts on social media against other celebrities. His TwitterInstagram
In now-deleted Instagram posts from earlier this year, the multiple Grammy award-winning artist accused Adidas and U.S. apparel retailer Gap
He also accused Adidas of stealing his designs for its own products.
Gap and Ye ended their partnership in September. European fashion house Balenciaga
Adidas poached Ye from rival Nike
The tie-up, which produced several hot-selling “Yeezy” branded Adidas sneakers that cost between $200 and $700, helped the German brand close the gap with Nike in the U.S. market.
Yeezy generates about 1.5 billion euros ($1.47 billion) in annual sales for Adidas, making up a little over 7% of its total revenue, according to estimates from Telsey Advisory Group.
Shares in Adidas, which cut its full-year forecast last week, were down about 3.8%. The group said it would provide more information as part of its upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on Nov. 9.
