Adidas terminates partnership with Kanye West
Adidas had ended its partnership with Ye, also known as Kanye West, with “immediate effect.”
In a statement Tuesday, the sportswear maker said it “does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech” and said that his recent comments were “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” Adidas said they violated the company’s “values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Sales and production of his Yeezy branded products have stopped as well as payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas said it will take a €250 million hit ($246 million) to its fourth quarter sales.
Adidas has partnered with West since 2013, when the company signed his brand away from rival Nike. In 2016, Adidas expanded its relationship with the rapper, calling it “the most significant partnership ever created between a non-athlete and an athletic brand.”
But Adidas put the “partnership under review” in early October after he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt in public. The Anti-Defamation League categorizes the phrase as a “hate slogan” used by White supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan.
Recently, Ye said “I can say antisemitic s*** and Adidas cannot drop me,” during a tirade against Jews on the Drink Champs Podcast. He also threatened on Twitter to “Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Read More: CNN
