Adidas Cuts Ties With Kanye West

Adidas is ending its relationship with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

The move comes after the rapper and designer, whose Yeezy brand was produced and distributed by Adidas, made antisemitic comments on social media platforms.

The German company stated that Ye’s comments are “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness.”

• Adidas will immediately halt production of Yeezy-branded products and end the Adidas Yeezy business.
• Adidas, which reportedly owns the designs, will also stop all payments to Ye and his companies.

The sportswear brand put its relationship with Ye under review earlier this month after trying to resolve disputes privately. At one point, Ye accused Adidas of stealing his designs.

Dropping Ye is expected to bring a $247 million hit to Adidas’ 2022 net income, and one report suggests it’s close to a $10 billion decision.

Adidas reportedly earned royalties of around 15% on Yeezy product sales from the partnership, which accounted for as much as 8% of Adidas’ sales, according to a recent report from UBS analysts.

Adidas will provide more information in its third-quarter earnings announcement on Nov. 9.

Ye’s Year

Adidas isn’t the only company dropping Ye, who also recently wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt. 

Gap ended its relationship last month, before Creative Artists Agency dropped Ye as a client, film and television studio MRC Entertainment scrapped a completed documentary about him, and Balenciaga and Vogue cut ties.