Adidas has ended its relationship with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in the wake of the rapper and songwriter’s string of antisemitic comments in recent weeks.
The company said in a statement that it “does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” adding that “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” and that the remarks have violated the company’s “values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Adidas also said that it would “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies,” effective immediately.
The company’s move comes weeks after it announced that it was conducting a review of its partnership with Ye, after the artist wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at his Paris Fashion Week runway show. He followed that incident up by making antisemitic comments on Instagram and Twitter, including that he had constructed a plan to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
His actions resulted in suspensions from both platforms, in addition to the HBO show The Shop: Uninterrupted preventing an episode involving Ye from going to air. The rapper continued to spout antisemitic rhetoric in an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast last week, where he also claimed that he could say “antisemitic s--- and Adidas cannot drop me.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt lauded Adidas’s decision Tuesday, calling the move “the right thing” to do.
“This is a very positive outcome. It illustrates that antisemitism is unacceptable and creates consequences. Without a doubt, Adidas has done the right thing by cutting ties with Ye after his vicious antisemitic rants,” he said in a statement. “We were proud to see many joined ADL’s campaign, #RunAwayfromHate, that pressured Adidas toward this decision, including the thousands of people who sent emails, the dozens of celebrities who spoke up, and the prominent brands who cut ties. Taken together, all these elements sent an unambiguous signal that moved the company to take action. In the end, Adidas’ action sends a powerful message that antisemitism and bigotry have no place in society.”
