The rapper is considered a supporter of former US President Donald Trump.
(Photo: Reuters)
Munich The sporting goods company Adidas is ending its collaboration with US rapper Kanye West with immediate effect after anti-Semitic statements and massive international criticism. “Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other type of hate speech,” the company said on Tuesday. The recent statements and actions of the artist, who now appears under the name Ye, are “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.
In good times, the cooperation with the controversial artist had brought Adidas sales of more than one billion euros a year. But West repeatedly provoked public statements and social media posts, which he usually quickly deleted. Just a few days ago he said in a podcast: “I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t let me down. So what?”
After unsuccessful background talks, Adidas announced a review of the collaboration a few weeks ago. West’s renewed failures now increased the pressure on the group management. Politicians in the US and customers on social media called for an end to the cooperation.
Kanye West repeatedly provoked with radical statements
“After careful consideration, the company has made the decision to end the partnership with Ye with immediate effect, cease production of Yeezy-branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and its companies,” it said. West’s comments “violated the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness”. The Central Council of Jews welcomed the step on Tuesday as “overdue”.
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West had repeatedly provoked radical statements in recent years. He recently appeared at Paris Fashion Week with right-wing black influencer Candace Owens. Both wore sweaters with the inscription “White Lives Matter” – a conscious distinction from “Black Lives Matter”.
Right-wing activist Candace Owens shared a photo with West. Inscription on their shirts: “White lives matter”
(Photo: ddp social media service)
In an interview with the ultra-conservative Fox News, the musician then blamed the black singer Lizzo for “the genocide of the black race”. His anti-Semitic threats on social media of going “death con 3” on “Jewish people” eventually got him banned. “Defcon 3” is an elevated alert status code used by the US military.
According to Kanye West, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental illness in which those affected fluctuate between euphoric and depressive states.
Adidas shares fall below the 100 euro mark
Other companies such as Gap had reacted faster than Adidas and had already ended their collaboration with West. The decision will cost Adidas dearly. The separation will reduce net profit by 250 million euros this year alone, as the group announced on Tuesday.
This further worsens the prospects of the group. The outgoing CEO Kasper Rorsted has already revised the forecasts downwards three times this year. Most recently, the group only expected a profit of 500 million euros for 2022. So it could be even worse now. Originally, Rorsted had promised up to 1.9 billion euros.
Adidas and Yeezy shoes are traded for high amounts.
(Photo: imago images/ZUMA Press)
Adidas’ main problem so far has been weak business in China. Rorsted admitted in an interview with the Handelsblatt that this was partly due to home-made mistakes. So there was not enough reaction to the needs of customers in the country, who wanted more products with a Chinese touch, for example. Shortly thereafter, Rorsted announced his early departure as CEO in the coming year.
The new high burdens due to the separation from West caused the Adidas price to drop again on Tuesday by more than four percent to below 100 euros. Since the beginning of the year, the sporting goods group has lost over 60 percent of its market value.
More: Another profit warning from Adidas