BERLIN — German sportswear giant
Adidas said
on Tuesday it was ending its partnership with Kanye West after a series of
anti-Semitic outbursts by the controversial rapper.
اضافة اعلان
Recent comments by West — known formally as Ye —
were “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous”, Adidas said in a statement.
“After a thorough review, the company has taken the
decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately,” the statement
added.
Adidas said it would “end production” of the highly
successful “Yeezy” line designed together with West and “stop all payments to
Ye and his companies”.
The abrupt end to the collaboration between the
sports outfitter and rapper would slash Adidas’s net income in 2022 by “up to
250 million euros ($246 million)”, it estimated.
Adidas’s decision to dump the artist was “overdue”,
said Josef Schuster of the Central Council of Jews in
Germany.
“For weeks, West has caused worldwide furor with his
anti-Semitic remarks,” Schuster said, adding that the rapper’s comments had
become “intolerable”.
T-shirt statement
Adidas began a review of its
relationship with West earlier this month after he appeared at a fashion show
in Paris wearing a shirt with the slogan “
White Lives Matter”. The phrase is a
dog whistle to right-wing groups in the US and a reaction to the Black Lives
Matter movement.
Days later he was locked out of Twitter and
Instagram for threatening to “Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”.
Comments made by West “violate the company’s values
of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness”, Adidas said on
Tuesday.
The artist was associated with rival sportswear
company Nike for years but broke away in 2013, lending his name to Adidas as
they launched their first Yeezy shoe together in 2015 — a partnership that went
on to make him a billionaire.
Along with Beyonce,
Stella McCartney, and Pharrell
Williams, West’s has been one of the top names used by Adidas to boost sales,
especially online.
Adidas is the latest brand to part ways with West following
his recent outbursts. Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga ended ties with the
rapper last week, saying it “no longer (has) any relationship nor any plans for
future projects related to this artist”.
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