(CelebrityAccess) — In the face of mounting public pressure, German sportswear company adidas announced it was terminating its business relationship with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments in recent weeks.
In a statement published on Tuesday, adidas said: 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.
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.
According to adidas, they expect the split to have a negative impact on their bottom line of up to €250 million in 2022, but the company took pains to note that they are the “sole owner” of all designs to existing products, as well as all existing and new colorways created under the partnership.
adidas is the latest fashion brand to distance themselves from West in recent weeks. Last week, Balenciaga ended its relationship with the troubled rap icon and in September, the Gap ended a ten-year partnership they formed with West in 2020 that they anticipated would generate $1bn in annual sales.
