Adidas announced on Tuesday that they were severing ties with Ye, formally known as Kanye West, in the wake of his public anti-Semitic remarks and diatribes.
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The partnership between the two will end on “immediate” grounds, the company said in a statement. This includes ending the production of Yeezy branded products.
“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech. Your recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” the company said in a press release. release. “After a thorough review, the company has made the decision to immediately end its partnership with Ye, discontinue production of Yeezy-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and its companies. Adidas will discontinue the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect. stop.”
The company went on to explain that the decision is “expected to have a short-term negative impact” — an estimated $250 million — on the company’s total net revenues for 2022, but said more information will be provided during earnings. from Adidas in the third quarter of 2022. announcement expected on November 9.
Adidas continues to be the “sole owner of all design rights to existing products and previous and new colorways” in its partnership with Ye and its Yeezy brand, according to the release.
later on tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Adidas will continue to sell Yeezy products under the Adidas brand and name as early as next year.
“Looking forward, in our view, the company will not sell Yeezy-branded products and all Yeezy products will be branded under the Adidas brand,” Morgan Stanley analyst Edouard Aubin told customers in a note on Tuesday, according to the publication.
The company is under increasing pressure to cut ties with the rapper after his October 16 appearance on the Drink Champs podcast where he stated, “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?”
The world is watching @adidas
— Kat Dennings (@OfficialKat) October 23, 2022
The silence of @adidas is now deafening. The world is watching.
— Adam Braun (@AdamBraun) October 25, 2022
Among those making a statement is Ye’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, who condemned the “terrible violence and hateful rhetoric” via social media.
Hate speech is never okay or excusable. I stand with the Jewish community and call on the appalling violence and hateful rhetoric against them to end immediately.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) October 24, 2022
Adidas said earlier this month that their partnership with the rapper was “under review” following a slew of messages from Ye attacking the company, claiming that the athletic brand was “putting up” its designs. He then sent “White Lives Matter” T-shirts down a runway during Paris Fashion Week.
Ye’s partnership with Adidas was first announced in 2013 and officially inked in 2016 as Adidas + Kanye West, a “YEEZY brand name that makes shoes, apparel and accessories for all genders on the street and in sports.”
According to the Washington Post, Yeezy is estimated to generate about $2 billion a year for Adidas, the equivalent of about 10% of the company’s annual income.
The termination of the deal is expected to seriously affect Ye’s net worth, as Yeezy was reportedly responsible for $1.5 billion of the rapper’s approximately $2 billion.
per most recent reportsYe has now lost billionaire status and his net worth is now estimated at around $400 million.
Which companies have dropped Ye?
Adidas isn’t the first company to drop Ye amid the uproar and outrage.
In September, Gap and West ended their business partnership after West and his team wrote a letter to the company alleging that the retailer failed to comply with the terms and conditions first stated when signing the original agreement, which was to sell Yeezy Gap products in-store.
Tuesday late afternoon, Gap announced that it would remove all Yeezy Gap products from the shelves immediately.
“The recent comments and behavior of our former partner underscores why. We are taking immediate steps to remove the Yeezy Gap product from our stores and we have YeezyGap.com“Anti-Semitism, racism and hatred in any form are unforgivable and will not be tolerated in line with our values,” the company said in a press release. On behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders, we partner with organizations that fight hate and discrimination.”
fashion house Balenciaga told WWD earlier this week that it is “out of a relationship and has no plans for future projects related to” Ye.
Long time Fashion Editor-in-Chief and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast Anna Wintour said in a statement that neither they nor the magazine plan to ever work with West again in any capacity.
West was too dropped by his talent agencyCAA, and a recently filmed documentary about the rapper has been removed from distribution. The production company, MRC, told the LA Times in a letter that it “cannot support content that enhances Ye’s platform”.
It was also much reported that JP Morgan has cut ties with Ye, but there is no confirmation or follow-up from the bank.
you have banned from Instagram and Twitter and laundry fallen due to his divorce attorneys Bernard Clair and Bob Cohen.
At the time of going to press, Ye had not publicly commented on the termination of his partnership with Adidas.
