Kanye West is claimed to have sent explicit images to Adidas staff, among other misconduct
(Picture: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for ADIDAS)Adidas is investigating the alleged misconduct of Kanye West, as he’s claimed to have showed employees of the sports brand explicit images in a new report.
West, 45, has been accused in an article by Rolling Stone of showing an “intimate” photograph of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian during a job interview in 2018, and other explicit images on separate occasions, as “intimidation tactics”.
According to the article, West allegedly presented the “very revealing and personal” photo of Kardashian, 42, on his phone to a potential new hire, saying afterwards: “My wife just sent me this.”
A second employee claimed in the same year that West sent “personal” images of Kardashian to his Yeezy brand’s creative team, while other Adidas ex-employees recalled West often showing explicit images and sex tapes featuring himself to staff.
The shocking allegations were revealed in an open letter by “prominent former members of the Yeezy team”, released by the US publication, and come a month after West’s termination from Adidas due to his anti-Semitic rants.
In publishing the open letter, the authors are urging for the executive board members of Adidas and its CEO Bjorn Gulden, to confront the “toxic and chaotic environment that Kanye West created”.
Following the allegations, Adidas is investigating the alleged misconduct.
“It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true,” Adidas said in a statement.
“However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations.”
Former Adidas employees in the open letter have accused West of creating “a very sick pattern of predacious behaviour toward women”, and have blamed Adidas for enabling “years of verbal abuse, vulgar tirades, and bullying attacks” from him.
One unidentified ex-employee told Rolling Stone: “I feel it was a tactic to break a person down and establish their unwavering allegiance to him, testing and destroying people’s boundaries.”
West has also been alleged by former staff to have shown porn to Adidas executives in a business meeting, behaviour which was allegedly captured in a 30-minute video the rapper released on his YouTube channel.
The authors of the published letter are asking for Adidas bosses to issue a public apology for condoning the alleged misconduct of West.
Adidas responded in a statement to Rolling Stone: “Adidas does not tolerate hate speech and offensive behaviour and therefore has terminated the adidas Yeezy partnership.
“We have been and continue to be actively engaged in conversations with our employees about the events that lead [sic] to our decision to end the partnership.
“They have our full support and as we’re working through the details of the termination, we have been clear that we want to keep our employees’ talent and skills within the organisation.”
The Evening Standard has contacted West and Kardashian’s representatives for comment.
