Over the last few weeks or so, you’ve probably seen a ton of rumors about Kanye West potentially returning to Adidas.
It all stems from Adidas facing major losses with leftover Yeezy products after the brand cut West at the tail end of 2022 for being antisemitic and anti-Black. Yeezy products became an essential piece to Adidas and now they’re unable to sell any of it.
So, the thinking goes, if Adidas brings Kanye back, gives him a raise and sells their remaining Yeezy products, they’ll still be able to make a profit off of what the brand currently has sitting in storage somewhere.
And, well, I hate to bearer of bad news — or, uh, maybe not so bad news? — but this isn’t a thing. It’s just the internet internetting.
Let’s dive into where this is all coming from and why.
Wait, there are rumors that Adidas wants Kanye West back?
Yes. And they’ve been circulating the internet for weeks now. They come in all forms from suspiciously unsourced tweets like this one I’ve quoted here.
Lol yeah, this isn't true. https://t.co/yR7JUcAbQs
— Michael Sykes, II (@MikeDSykes) February 14, 2023
It also includes news articles using right-wing Twitter accounts as their lone source.
Just do a quick Google search of “Kanye West returns to Adidas” or something similar. You’ll quickly find that there are just a bunch of rumor posts with no one citing any credible sources.
It’s all just vibes, really.
Why is this a thing? This makes no sense
At the core of all this is a dilemma Adidas is faced with as a company right now.
Obviously, Adidas clipped West from its brand in December. The brand is no longer affiliated with him, it isn’t paying him a royalty anymore and it isn’t selling any Yeezy-affiliated Adidas products anymore.
But the same products Adidas isn’t selling anymore were still in production when the brand chose to split with West. Now, it’s reportedly left with $530 million in Yeezy products that it can’t do anything with, according to the Financial Times.
Wow, that's a huge problem isn't it?
Very much so. Adidas is trying to figure out the best way to repurpose the products the company can’t do anything with right now.
NPR crunched the numbers a bit here.
“In a profit warning issued on Thursday, Adidas said the decision to not sell existing merchandise is expected to slash the company’s full-year revenue by 1.2 billion euros (about $1.28 billion) and its operating profit by 500 million euros ($533 million) this year.”
That’s potentially a massive loss. It’s unprecedented.
Sheesh. So where do these rumors come in with all of this?
The thinking is that Adidas might be better off just bringing West back on a new deal and continuing to sell its Yeezy product.
That way, the company avoids a massive shortfall and keeps its shareholders satisfied. It’s a very cynical way of looking at things. In all honesty, it’s hard to blame people for thinking a corporation would do something like this. The bottom line generally always comes first. That’s why it took Adidas so long to cut West in the first place.
So...I have to ask...would that be a good idea?
No. Absolutely not. It doesn’t take into account the fact that West is the reason the Adidas brand is in the space it’s in in the first place.
Not only did the dude float out antisemitic and push anti-Black propaganda through his brand, but he’s also the same dude who tormented and harassed executives trying to force his way out of the company.
He mocked outgoing CEO Kasper Rørsted with a newspaper claiming he died. He reportedly harassed Yeezy staffers with bullying tactics and used “mind games” to control them. He reportedly showed employees porn in the workplace and did the same for executives, too.
That’s the guy Adidas would be bringing back. And, by the way, he’d be even more empowered in his return. No one is stopping him from doing any of this again.
So, no. It doesn’t make any sense to bring West back. In fact, Adidas — and everyone else — should probably stray as far away from him as they can.
