Adidas Drops Kanye West After his Anti-Semitic Outbursts – Adidas severed ties with Kanye West on Tuesday in the aftermath of the rapper’s odd anti-Semitic outbursts and public meltdowns. The apparel company stated that it “does not tolerate antisemitism or any other sort of hate speech” after announcing last week that it was “reviewing” its 10-year partnership with West.
“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 company said in a statement Tuesday. Adidas is the third prominent brand, following Balenciaga and Vogue, to cut ties or reevaluate their agreements with the rapper-turned-designer in the wake of his recent string of contentious remarks.
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The brand made the choice after receiving severe criticism for being silent when the outcry against West first erupted. By not publicly criticizing the 45-year-anti-Semitic old’s rants, the firm was accused by some of putting profits before ethics. At one point, the #boycottadidas hashtag also became trendy. Since 2015, West, who officially changed his name to Ye, has released his Yeezy sneaker lines with Adidas.
The release of upcoming Yeezy collections, priced between $200 and $300, is anticipated for later this year. Before the official news, West addressed the idea of Adidas dropping him, telling TMZ that the brand is “going through legal right now, so anything can happen.” In other parts of that conversation, the father of four was adamant that he would not be cancelled, despite being dropped by major brands.
“I ain’t losing no money,” he said. “The day I was taken off the Balenciaga site, that was one of the most freeing days.” West added that businesses were only cutting ties with him to simply “score points.” “We here, baby, we ain’t going nowhere,” he insisted. West briefly hired Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez to oversee all of his businesses, but she dropped him in a matter of days after he refused to retract his words.
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Last week, when asked if he was apologetic for his comments, West told The Post columnist Piers Morgan: “No. Absolutely not.” A number of brands quickly moved to end their partnerships with him, including Balenciaga, who said they “no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.” A Vogue spokesperson told Page Six last week that they, too, had no plans to work with the rapper again.
