Adidas Ends Major Partnership With Kanye West After Antisemitic Controversy
Adidas has ended its business partnership with Kanye West.
Rapper and business mogul Kanye Omari West has stirred up controversy ever since he took the stage in the early aughts to become one of the most recognized and talked about artists of his generation. Recently, a string of antisemitic rants on social media have caused the hip hop artist to lose several business deals with well-known organizations, including talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), as well as having his accounts suspended on Twitter and Instagram. After calls for Ye to be canceled, the outlet Deadline now reports that Kanye West has been dropped by adidas as of today, which will surely have repercussions for both the artist and the clothing manufacturer after several celebrities called for adidas to do the right thing.
Kanye West, otherwise known as Ye, made several antisemitic remarks on social media lately, adding fuel to a fire of controversy that landed him in Twitter jail for the time being. Kanye West partnered with adidas on several product lines, but the company will no longer do business with the performer, amounting to a possible $246 million loss for adidas as they enter the holiday buying season. In a statement that Deadline reported on, the company noted that they will “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies,” which will go into immediate effect as of this morning.
Kanye West has made a name for himself while working with adidas, producing Yeezy branded products that have included high-end limited edition shoes and Yeezy Boost athletic sneakers worn by several NBA players since its launch. Other products contributing to the now former collaboration between West and adidas included shirts, jackets, track pants, socks, women’s apparel, slippers, and lingerie. Much of the hoopla surrounding West’s comments also have to do with his promotion of a “White Lives Matter” shirt at Paris fashion week this month, wearing the shirt alongside controversial pundit Candace Owens who also donned the same shirt, which has not seemed to sit well with his loyal fanbase and Americans in general.
However, Kanye West’s severed business relationship with adidas is just one of the many companies that have cut ties with the rapper as of late, as a direct result of his refusal to back down from his comments about the Jewish people. Currently, Balenciaga, CAA, and Gap have all distanced themselves from the rapper since his remarks on social media, and his appearance on the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight has not seemed to do the “Gold Digger” artist any favors. Since Twitter and Instagram both banned West from their social media platforms, he has entered a deal to acquire Parler, a controversial and fledgling conservative social media platform.
Many of Kanye West’s comments that spawned several companies to drop him like adidas came about because he believes that the Jewish people are controlling other celebrities like Diddy. After speaking in his interview with Tucker Carlson, the Anti-Defamation League called on the rapper to stop spouting out hate speech and to reevaluate his positions on the Jewish people. So far, Kanye West has yet to do just that.
