Adidas drops Kanye West after 'hateful and dangerous' anti-Semitic remarks
Ronald Martinez/Getty Kanye West's Instagram account has been restricted.
Adidas has terminated its working relationship with rapper Kanye West — also known as Ye — after the performer's anti-Semitic remarks stirred nation-wide controversy.
"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," the sportswear announced Tuesday in a press statement. "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."
The company indicated that its net income for 2022 would take a €250 million hit (around $248 million in domestic currency) following the termination, and revealed that more information on the decision will be revealed at its Q3 earnings announcement on Nov. 9.
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Kanye West
Adidas' move is the latest in a growing list of severed professional relationships for the 45-year-old. Fashion house Balenciaga recently cut ties with him, as did talent agency CAA. EW confirmed on Monday that film and TV studio MRC shelved a completed documentary feature about him, while Instagram banned him from the platform and Twitter locked his account for violating the social media network's policies in a post where he indicated that he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE."
West earlier shared a screenshot of a conversation with Sean Combs, a.k.a Diddy, in which he appeared to be promoting a conspiracy theory that Combs was manipulated by Jewish people.
Over the weekend, a group of people appeared to perform Nazi salutes while hanging banners over a busy Los Angeles highway, one of which read, "Kanye is right about the Jews," per CNN.
West's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, appeared to speak out against her former spouse in a tweet on Monday. "Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end," she wrote.
Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) October 24, 2022
In October, West and conservative commentator Candace Owens courted criticism after wearing "White Lives Matter" shirts to a Paris fashion show, prompting Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson to criticize his behavior, with West subsequently going on a vitriolic tirade against her.
A legal representative for West did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment on Adidas' announcement.
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