Adidas Terminates Partnership With Kanye ‘Ye’ West Immediately
Adidas Terminates Partnership With Kanye ‘Ye’ West Immediately. German multinational company Adidas has announced that it has terminated is partnership with American rapper and designer Kanye West over his antisemitic remarks.
The company said in a statement, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. 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. After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”
Kanye West’s partnership with Adidas began in 2013 after he left a collaboration with Nike. This Adidas deal, which involved both shoes and clothing, became hugely successful and became a big contributor to West’s $2 billion net worth. The collaboration became notable for its high-end limited edition colorways and general releases offered by the Yeezy Boost sneakers lineup. The collaboration has also produced shirts, jackets, track pants, socks, slides, women’s shoes, lingerie and slippers.
This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter. Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership. The company says more information will be given as part of the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022.
