Billionaire Blues: Adidas Drops West
Adiddas Drops Kanye West Over Anti-Semitic Remarks
Mary ManleyOn Tuesday, Adidas decided to drop West as a partner for his Yeezy clothing line, ending the rapper’s billionaire status, according to Forbes. The partnership between the sportswear giant and the 45-year-old rapper began in 2013, with sales grossing up to $100 million annually and Yeezy sneakers ranging from $200 to $600 a pair.Kanye West’s antisemitic comments have cost him his billionaire status. The rapper and fashion designer, who loves to create controversy, started his most recent tirade with a t-shirt design he unveiled during a Paris Fashion Week show. The t-shirt read “White Lives Matter.” The 45- year-old then doubled down on his unseemly statements during interviews before writing a Tweet about the Jewish community saying he was going “defcon 3 on Jewish people” and accused rapper Puff Diddy of being under control of the Jewish community. Those antisemitic comments have now cost him his partnership with Adidas.”Adidas 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 of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” Adidas said in a statement. “After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, 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.”Adidas’ decision on Tuesday to drop West will cost them $246 million this year.
ViralAdidas Ends Partnership With Kanye West Over ‘Antisemitism’Yesterday, 10:51 GMTWest first taunted Adidas by saying, “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?” during an episode of the podcast “Drink Champs.” The German sportswear company joined the French fashion house Balenciaga, JPMorgan Chase, talent agency CAA, and Hollywood financier and producer MRC in dropping the artist as a business partner. Gap ended its partnership with West last month and on Monday announced that they would be pulling all Yeezy Gap products from their stores and website.
