UNITED STATES: Adidas AG, a German clothing giant, has cut ties with rapper-cum-fashion entrepreneur Kanye West over anti-Semitic statements.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism or any other sort of hate speech,” the brand said on Tuesday.
In the span of 2 weeks, Kanye West has lost his links to major fashion firms for talent representation and other profitable relationships over recent anti-black and anti-semitic comments.
A string of controversies
The move, which ends a lucrative partnership, comes after a string of controversies, including a recent anti-Semitic outburst from the musician and fashion brand owner, Ye.
Adidas’s Yeezy brand collaboration was put under review after Ye sparked controversy by wearing a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt during Paris Fashion Week. A few days after the controversy, he posted anti-semitic comments on his Twitter.
A few days ago, Kanye West challenged Adidas to drop him after making a weeks-long flurry of antisemitic comments on social platforms and in front of national media.
The rapper said, “I can say antisemitic s—-and Adidas cannot drop me.”
In response to Rapper’s comments, an American-based organisation that tracks and exposes antisemitism tweeted that Adidas’ partnership should be terminated.
Celebrities and other social media pushed the company to cut ties with Ye, asking Adidas to act. It said at the beginning of the month that it was reevaluating its lucrative footwear relationship with the rapper.
Adidas’ official announcement
Adidas officially broke its silence and terminated the relationship on Tuesday, October 25.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Adidas stated that “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.” Adding any type of hate speech can’t be tolerated by the company.
Adidas announced on Tuesday that it had performed a “thorough review” and would immediately stop producing its line of Yeezy products and stop payments to Ye and his businesses.
Following the news, Adidas’ stock price dropped as much as 8%, but it has subsequently recovered some of those losses.
There could be a “short-term negative impact” on Adidas’ net income this year of up to 250 million euros ($248.90 million) as a result of terminating the partnership, ceasing production of Yeezy branded products, and ceasing all payments to Ye and his businesses.
Adidas, whose CEO Kasper Rorsted is retiring next year, decided on Ye’s ban from Twitter and Instagram earlier this month as a result of anti-Semitic posts that the social media networks said violated their policies.
The pressure on Ye’s commercial partnerships has increased after the suspension of Ye’s Instagram and Twitter. Recently, Ye’s partnerships with the bank JP Morgan and the clothing company Gap were called to an end.
In a previously removed Instagram post, Ye accused Adidas and US clothing retailer Gap Inc. of neglecting to construct the permanent locations that were legally guaranteed to sell goods from his Yeezy clothing line.
Additionally, he claimed that Adidas had stolen his designs for use in its own products.
On Tuesday, Gap, which had dissolved its agreement with Ye in September, announced that it was taking urgent action to remove Yeezy Gap merchandise from its stores and that YeezyGap.com had been shut down.
In keeping with its beliefs, Gap declared in a statement that “antisemitism, racism, and bigotry in any form are intolerable and not accepted.”
Media reports indicate that Ye’s relationship with the European fashion label Balenciaga has also ended.
Additionally, the rapper’s ranking on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires has dropped. Ye’s net worth has reportedly decreased from $1.5 billion to $400 million, according to the magazine’s assessment.
The rest of Ye’s wealth is made up of real estate, cash, his music library, and a 5% ownership in his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s Skims shapewear company, said the magazine.
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