Photo: Jonathan Leibson/2016 Getty Images
For more than a decade, Adidas allegedly turned a blind eye to Ye (formerly known as Kanye West)’s allegedly toxic and anti-Semitic outbursts. A new New York Times report highlights a decade of problematic behavior, including sexually offensive comments, that continued to go unaddressed until the company ended its highly lucrative deal with the rapper last year.
The German sportswear brand partnered with West in 2013 and saw the company’s highly coveted, hype-beating garments boost their sales almost immediately, propelling the rapper to billionaire status. That same year, according to the Times, West was dissatisfied with proposals presented to him at a meeting with executives in Germany. To express his frustration, West allegedly took a marker and drew a swastika on one of the sketches of a shoe – a universally offensive symbol, particularly in Germany, where almost all depictions of the symbol are banned. Just weeks before this incident, West reportedly had executives watch porn in his New York apartment to “stimulate creativity.” Although Adidas had the right to terminate the agreement with West if his conduct began to damage the company’s reputation due to a term in the contract, it would be years before the company’s senior leadership would consider ending the partnership.
Over the next decade, West’s erratic behavior continued as Adidas continued to rake in billions of dollars. Sales of the partnership’s famous Yeezy shoes alone exceeded $1 billion annually, while employees internally reported abusive behavior on the part of West, including allegedly asking a Jewish Adidas executive to “kiss a portrait of Hitler” every day told colleagues at the company that he “admired Hitler’s leadership.” Propaganda” and once again attacking executives with a sexually explicit film. Employees also complained to supervisors about sexually offensive comments made by the artist.
Instead of containing West, Adidas seemingly accommodated, worked around, and even ignored his behavior. According to the Times, company bosses set up a group text message called the “Yzy Hotline” to talk about West and continually rotated employees who had direct dealings with the artist. Over the years, the rapper’s partnership with the brand became even more lucrative as concerns swirled in the background, first in 2016 when he was paid a 15 percent royalty on net sales, $15 million up front and millions of dollars worth of company stock per Year awards were again made in 2019 with a $100 million increase that was theoretically intended for Yeezy marketing but reportedly received little oversight.
Although Adidas permanently ended its partnership with West after a public tirade of anti-Semitic statements in 2022, the company made one last attempt to squeeze as much money as possible out of the deal this year. In May, the brand began selling $1.3 billion worth of Yeezys that it still owned. While some of the proceeds will reportedly be donated to charity, the rest of the proceeds will continue to go directly into the pockets of Adidas and West.
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