Adidas has severed ties with rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, stating that it “does not tolerate antisemitism or any other type of hate speech.”
Adidas’ Yeezy brand collaboration with Mr West has been called into question after he demonstrated a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt design at Paris Fashion Week.
Days later, the rapper used his Twitter account to make anti-Semitic remarks.
Adidas stated that his products will be removed from the market immediately.
According to the sportswear company, the Yeezy brand collaboration with Ye was one of the most successful in the company’s history.
Adidas expects a net loss of £217 million as a result of the partnership termination in 2022.
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Ye accused Adidas of stealing his designs.
Adidas issued the following statement on Tuesday: “Antisemitism and other forms of hate speech are not tolerated by Adidas. Ye’s recent remarks and actions are unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they go against the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness.”
In the days following his anti-Semitic remarks, Instagram and Twitter suspended Ye’s account. His business partnerships are also under increasing strain: JP Morgan and Gap announced in October that they were terminating their relationship with Ye.
Ye accused Gap of breaching their contract by failing to open standalone stores for his Yeezy fashion label.
Although Adidas suspended its relationship with Ye after he displayed his “White Lives Matters” T-shirt, the company did not state that the collection was the reason for the suspension.
After George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, the phrase Black Lives Matter, which represents opposition to racism and police brutality, became widely used.
Balenciaga, a high-end fashion house, and talent scouts Creative Artists Agency also cut ties with the rapper earlier this month.
MRC, a film and television production company, announced on Monday that it will not air its recently completed documentary about the rapper.
“Kanye West is a music producer and sampler. He sampled and remixed a classic song that has charted for over 3,000 years last week – the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain… As the leaders of this company (a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian), we feel obligated to inform you that this is a pernicious, terrible application of false logic “On Monday, MRC wrote.
