German sports equipment company Adidas has parted ways with Kanye West, also known as Ye, after recent anti-Semitic comments from the American rapper, who is increasingly marginalized by his business partners.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism or any other form of hate speech”, the company stated in a statement, announcing the “immediate end” from the collaboration with West. Also “stop manufacturing the productsfrom the artist’s Yeezy brand, he added.
The collaboration between Adidas and the American star has long been one of the most fruitful in the world. Following the announcement, Adidas shares fell 5.6% to $97.96 in Frankfurt.
Running since 2014, the Yeezy sneaker collection has been a smash hit and helped make Kanye West a billionaire.
Relations between the two partners have visibly deteriorated in recent months as a result of several outbursts from the star.
The company said in early October that it was reviewing its relationship with West after he appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “White Lives Matter.” ”).
The phrase is a reaction of far-right groups and white supremacists in the United States to the movement “Black lives matter” (“Black Lives Matter”), which protests against racism.
Soon after, West was banned from Twitter and Instagram for posting a threatening message against the Jewish community.
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The message that Kim Kardashian made on Twitter. (Photo: @KimKardashian/Instagram)
‘A danger to the Jews’
Adidas’s reaction comes after numerous voices demanded that it be pronounced.
“As a German company, I expect a clear attitude towards anti-Semitism from Adidas”, affirmed Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews of Germany.
The founders of Adidas were members of the Nazi party.
“Your silence is a danger to the Jewstweeted Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, an NGO fighting anti-Semitism.
On Monday, the CAA agency, representative of Kanye West and one of the most important in Hollywood, announced that it was also leaving him.
And production company MRC canceled a near-finished documentary about the rapper.
“We cannot support any content that increases your audience”, he declared to the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, the Balenciaga fashion house also broke its collaboration with the artist.
Instagram has already blocked West, who says he suffers from bipolar disorder over his divorce from American star Kim Kardashian, from posting on its platform.
“Hate speech is never acceptable or excusablehis ex-wife said on Twitter and Instagram, without mentioning West.
Bad step for Adidas
Along with celebrities like Beyoncé, Stella McCartney and Pharrell Williams, Kanye West was among the stars with whom Adidas had created collaborations to seduce its clientele.
The end of the Yeezy collection will have “a negative impact of up to 250 million euros on the company’s net result in 2022″, warned the group.
Adidas stressed that it is “the sole owner of all design rights to existing products (…) within the framework of the association”, anticipating a possible legal battle.
Sales of the famous sneakers exceeded one billion dollars in 2019, according to Forbes magazine.
Kanye West also presented eight Yeezy clothing collections, the latter considerably less successful.
The divorce between Adidas and the rapper is a new blow for the German company, which has already revised its annual targets downwards due to a turnover that has sunk due to the zero COVID policy in China and the drop in purchasing power in Western markets.
In the Frankfurt stock market, Adidas dropped 4% on Tuesday at noon.
Source: AFP
