Following Kanye West’s repeated antisemitic comments over the last few weeks, Adidas has officially ended its partnership with Ye with “immediate effect.” The activewear giant said it “does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech” in a statement on October 25, calling West’s remarks “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” and a violation of the company’s “values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” Adidas halted sales and production of Yeezy brand products and ended payments to the rapper and his associated companies. The company stands to lose €250 million ($246 million) in fourth-quarter sales, Adidas said. Ye previously had a contract with Nike before partnering with Adidas in 2013 and expanding his contract in 2016. The antisemitic comments and ensuing public pressure to cut ties were the straw that broke the camel’s back; the company said it began rethinking its business relationship with Ye in early October over the “White Lives Matter” T-shirt that he wore to his Paris fashion show.
Ye’s public antisemitism emboldened racists across the country with one Los Angeles antisemitic group installing banners on an L.A. interstate to support the rapper and his comments on October 22. Facing mounting pressure from social-media users and celebrities to denounce Ye — with Jessica Seinfeld asking users to share an Instagram post in support of Jewish people that spread widely, while Reese Witherspoon, Florence Pugh, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kim Kardashian (along with Khloé, Kendall, and Kylie) all spoke out against him — brands have had no choice but to respond to West’s ceaseless promotion of harmful rhetoric. Balenciaga and Vogue cut ties with the rapper, and talent agency CAA dropped him. The family of George Floyd sued Ye after he disparaged, on Revolt TV’s Drink Champs, the man whose extrajudicial murder at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a summer of protests. Meanwhile, execs scrapped stadium shows and a finished documentary; Instagram and Twitter banned him; and music sales, streams, and airplay sharply plummeted.
