Adidas Ends Partnership With Kanye West Over His Anti-Semitic Remarks

Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, lost his partnership with Adidas over his offensive and antisemitic remarks. The German sportswear company is the latest to end its collaborations with Ye, said reports.

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," the company said in a statement Tuesday. “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."

Adidas was facing constant pressure to cut ties with Ye. Celebrities and others on social media were constantly urging Adidas to act. It said at the beginning of the month that it was placing its lucrative sneaker deal with the rapper under review.

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, Adidas said that it conducted a “thorough review" and would immediately stop production of its Yeezy products and stop payments to Ye and his companies. The sportswear company said it was expected to take a hit of up to 250 million euros (USD 246 million) to its net income this year from the move.

The move from Adidas comes after Ye was suspended from Twitter and Instagram this month over antisemitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies.

He recently suggested slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast," among other comments. He also was criticized for wearing a ‘White Lives Matter' T-shirt to his Yeezy collection show in Paris.

Ye’s was also dropped by his talent agency CAA and the MRC studio announced Monday, Oct24 that it is shelving a complete documentary about the rapper.

The Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with Ye last week, according to reports. JPMorganChase and Ye have ended their business relationship, although the banking breakup was in the works even before Ye’s antisemitic comments.

Ye has also ended his company’s association with Gap in recent weeks.

After being suspended from Twitter and Facebook, Ye offered to buy the conservative social network, Parler.

A banner praising Ye’s antisemitic comments was unfurled by demonstrators on a Los Angeles overpass on Saturday, Oct. 22, prompting an outcry on social media from celebrities and others who said they stand with Jewish people.