Adidas has discontinued its agreement with Kanye West, saying it “does not condone antisemitism”
The German sports brand said West’s recent statements and actions were “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” and violated its values of diversity, inclusiveness, mutual respect, and fairness.
The corporation will incur a “short-term” €250m (£217m) damage to its income this year after stopping the brand’s activity immediately. It will stop making Yeezy merchandise and stop paying West and his firms.
According to Bloomberg, the relationship brought Adidas $1.7bn in 2020 and was set to end in 2026.
Adidas recently warned its profit margins and sales were taking a hit because of weakening customer demand.
Adidas reviewed the arrangement after West’s Paris show, when models wore “White Lives Matter” shirts.
The brand said it had all design rights to existing products and new color variations under the Yeezy relationship.
Adidas broke connections with West after Balenciaga, Gap, and JPMorgan Chase done so.
The rapper said Adidas couldn’t drop him despite boycott calls.
Twitter froze West’s account on 9 October after removing a post suggesting he was going “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” saying it breached its hate speech standards.
Facebook owner Meta suspended West’s Instagram account on 7 October after he made an antisemitic statement on Friday suggesting Diddy was controlled by Jews.
The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany said Adidas had a unique responsibility to terminate connections with Kanye West given its Nazi background.
Adidas must face its historic responsibilities as a firm that profited from the National Socialist government, Josef Schuster told Bild.
Schuster remarked, “Since then, Adidas has distanced itself from its past.” If this is true, Kanye West must be dropped. Not even the nicest shoe is worth this artist’s depths.”
