Adidas cuts ties with Ye over antisemitic comments, set to take $246M hit

Oct 25, 2022

Karah Rucker Anchor/Reporter/Editor

By Karah Rucker (Anchor/Reporter/Editor)

In a statement, Adidas announced it “has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately” in the wake of controversy over antisemitic comments the rapper formerly known as Kanye West made. According to the Tuesday statement, the company will “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.”

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

Earlier this month, Twitter and Instagram booted Ye from their platforms over posts the social networks said violated their policies. In one post on Twitter, Ye said he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” according to internet archive records. The quote, an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

“You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” West said in the “death con” tweet. It drew a sharp rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, which called the tweet “deeply troubling, dangerous, and antisemitic, period.”

Adidas faced pressure to cut ties with Ye after the antisemitic comments, with celebrities and others on social media urging the company to act. On Tuesday, Adidas said it would suffer a “short-term negative impact” of about $246 million “on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.”

The Adidas announcement is the latest fallout from Ye’s comments. Others include:

Ye’s talent agency, CAA, dropped him.
MRC Entertainment announced Monday that it is shelving a documentary about Ye.
The Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with Ye last week, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
JPMorganChase and Ye have ended their business relationship (this was in the works before the comments).
Ye has ended his company’s association with Gap.
Ye has told Bloomberg that he plans to cut ties with his corporate suppliers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tags: Anti-Defamation League, Instagram, Kanye West, Social Media, Twitter

THE SOCIAL MEDIA MASSES CALLED…ASKING ADIDAS TO SEVER ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH YE.
ADIDAS ANNOUNCING TODAY IT WILL NO LONGER DO BUSINESS WITH HIM…
ENDING PRODUCTION TO ALL YEEZY PRODUCTS.
IT’S A COSTLY BREAK-UP.
A MOVE THAT WILL COST THE COMPANY NEARLY 250 MILLION DOLLARS IN LOSSES IN THIS NEXT QUARTER ALONE.
HIS DEAL WITH ADIDAS HAD LAUNCHED A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR BRAND IN YEEZY.
YE, FORMERLY CALLED KANYE WEST, IS PAYING FOR ANTI-SEMITIC COMMENTS HE MADE ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.
VARIOUS FASHION COMPANIES, VOGUE, HIS TALENT AGENCY, AND NOW ADIDAS HAVE CANCELED THE ARTIST OVER HIS CONTROVERSIAL MOVES AS OF LATE.
OTHERS ARE TAKING NOTICE OF THE WHIRLWIND THAT IS ‘YE WEST.’
IN LOS ANGELES…BANNERS WERE TIED TO A BUSY OVERPASS BRIDGE…
READING ‘KANYE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE JEWS.’
YE LATER CAME OUT AND SAID SORRY FOR HURTING PEOPLE WITH THE CONFUSION HE CAUSED.
BUT THE APOLOGY WAS FOLLOWED BY JUSTIFICATIONS FOR HIS COMMENTS.
THE SPOTLIGHT HAS FOLLOWED AND LIKELY WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW YE AS HE TRIES TO PROPEL HIMSELF AS A POLITICAL FIGURE.