Adidas terminates Kanye West’s Yeezy brand over antisemitic comments
Adidas has terminated a multi-billion pound deal with music superstar Kanye West over antisemitic comments he made.
The iconic German sports and fashion brand issued a statement today ending his ‘Yeezy’ brand, after the artist said he couldn’t be dropped.
This comes after West, who officially changed his name to ‘Ye’, had his Twitter account locked earlier in the month over tweets about Jews. He had his Instagram locked also, after saying rapper Diddy was controlled by Jews, which is an antisemitic trope.
Jewish groups across the world called for Adidas to cut ties with West, who has bipolar and has got into hot water previously, with the deal bringing in $1.7bn in revenue in 2020.
In a statement published today, adidas said it “does not tolerate antisemitism 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”.
“After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately” which was due to end in 2026, and “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. adidas will stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”
It said this would have an “short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.”
Balenciaga, Gap and JPMorgan Chase also cut ties with West, while his talent agency CAA reportedly stopped representing him.