Adidas has officially cut ties with billionaire rapper and designer Kanye West seven years after the release of the first Yeezy shoe model in February 2015.
In 2020 sales for Adidas’ Yeezy sneakers generated $1.7 billion in annual revenue.
The sportswear giant announced on Tuesday that it is officially cutting ties with Ye with immediate effect, expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to $246 million on the company’s net income in 2022, given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.
“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,” said Adidas in an official statement titled Adidas terminates partnership with Ye immediately.
“Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership. More information will be given as part of the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022,” the statement concluded.
Yeezy accounted for over 8 percent of Adidas’ sales. Kanye West has been the recent centre of controversy after multiple remarks and actions that have caused outrage among people such as wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week.
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