BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 09: Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
Adidas has ended its partnership with Kanye West, whose legal name is Ye, citing his uptick in hateful rhetoric, including his antisemitic comments posted to Twitter earlier this month.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the sportswear said in an October 25 press release. “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.”
The termination of the partnership is effective immediately. Adidas said they will no longer be making payments to West and his companies. Adidas expects this to negatively impact the company’s net income by almost $250 million.
The decision to part ways comes after an October 6 announcement in which Adidas said they would be re-evaluating their partnership with West after he debuted his “White Lives Matter” apparel at a surprise Yeezy fashion show during Paris Fashion Week.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, West responded to the announcement with a caption saying, “FUUUUUUCK ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS ADIDAS RAPED AND STOLE MY DESIGNS.”
West has been causing controversy for several years, from his endorsement of Donald Trump to the bizarre harassment of ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her former boyfriend Pete Davidson.
West’s behavior has been notably more erratic in recent months. In addition to antisemitic tweets which won’t be repeated here, on October 7, West posted a series of screenshots showing texts between him and Supreme’s Tremaine West. In the texts, West accuses major brands, including Louis Vuitton, NBA, Universal, J.P. Morgan, “and so on” of “trying to divide us to conquer us.”
West’s unpredictable behavior has already caused several other companies to sever ties with him.
In September, Gap announced to employees that it would be ending its highly-anticipated partnership with the rapper’s apparel line, Yeezy.
The Hollywood Reporter said Monday that the talent agency CAA stopped representing West. Balenciaga is also reportedly no longer working with the rapper, but no official announcements have been made.
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