Kanye West reportedly no longer a billionaire after Adidas cuts ties
Adidas has ended its partnership with Kanye West following his anti-semitic comments.
The German sportswear brand is the latest company to cut ties with the rapper, describing his offensive statements as “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” The company said in a statement yesterday (October 25th) that “Adidas does not tolerate anti-semitism 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.”
The company has been under immense pressure to end its lucrative deal with Ye. Reports at the time stated that Adidas had placed the partnership under review over matters not necessarily related to his hate speech.
As reported by AP, Adidas has said that it’s conducted a “thorough review” and will immediately stop production of its Yeezy products and stop payments to Ye and his companies. The brand revealed that it was expected to take a hit of up to €250m to its net income this year from the decision. The news follows Ye making several comments that were condemned as anti-semitic. Ye has since denied that they were racist remarks.
While the artist has refused to accept that the term anti-semitism exists because he claims it’s “not factual,” he has since offered something of an apology to those he offended with his comments.
Forbes had put Ye’s net worth at $2bn as recently as this week, but with Adidas cutting ties, it drastically reduced the estimate to just $400m on Tuesday. Forbes calculated the deal to sell the highly popular, expensive Yeezy line of sneakers was worth $1.5bn to Ye across several years.
Ye began his partnership with Adidas under the Yeezy banner in late 2013, with their first collection debuting in 2015. Over the past year, though, their relationship has soured, with Ye accusing the company of creating Yeezy Day – the annual day in which the brand releases some of its most anticipated Yeezy drops – without his approval.
Last month he hit out at Adidas once again with a new post imagining the death of the sportswear brand’s chief Kasper Rørsted. After the company said it had placed the partnership “under review,” Ye responded in a since-deleted Instagram post: “FUUUUUUCK ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS [sic].” The musician then had his Instagram and Twitter accounts locked following the derogatory comments.
Elsewhere, several companies and organisations have been reported to have cut ties with Ye, including his lawyer and booking agency. And Hollywood production company and financiers MRC has revealed that it will shelve a “recently completed” documentary about the rapper.
According to WWD, Balenciaga has ended its relationship with the star, while a representative for Vogue has confirmed to Page Six that neither the magazine nor its editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, plan to work with West moving forward.
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has said she stands “together with the Jewish community,” following her ex-husband’s comments, while reports have emerged that Ye is no longer signed to the record label Def Jam.
