Adidas ends cooperation with Ye due to anti-Semitic comments – Press Telegram

LONDON — Adidas has ended its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over his offensive and anti-Semitic remarks, the latest company to cut ties with Ye and a decision the German sportswear company says will lead to profits.

“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hatred,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “Ye’s recent comments and actions were unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and violate the company’s values ​​of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

The company faced pressure to end its relationship with Ye, with celebrities and others on social media calling on Adidas to act. Earlier this month, it was reported that he was considering his lucrative sneaker deal with the rapper.

Adidas said Tuesday that it had conducted a “thorough investigation” and would immediately stop production of its Yeezy product line and stop payments to Ye and his companies. The sportswear company said it expected its net profit to rise to 250 million euros ($246 million) this year from the move.

The move by Adidas, whose CEO Kasper Rorsted is stepping down next year, comes after Ye was suspended from Twitter and Instagram this month for anti-Semitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies.

He recently suggested that slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19 vaccine “the mark of the beast,” among other comments. He was also criticized for wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt at his Yeezy collection show in Paris.

Ye’s talent agency, CAA, dropped him, and studio MRC announced on Monday that it was shelving a full-length documentary about the rapper.

Fashion house Balenciaga cut ties with Ye last week, according to Women’s Wear Daily. JPMorganChase and Ye ended their business relationship, although a split of the banks was in the works before Ye’s anti-Semitic comments.

Ye also ended his company’s partnership with Gap in recent weeks and told Bloomberg that he plans to cut ties with his corporate suppliers.

After being kicked out of Twitter and Facebook, Ye offered to buy the conservative social network Parler.

On Saturday, protesters at an overpass in Los Angeles unfurled a banner praising E’s anti-Semitic comments, prompting an outcry on social media from celebrities and others who said they were siding with Jews.

In Germany, where Adidas is headquartered, the head of the country’s main Jewish group welcomed the company’s decision but said the “step was overdue.”

“I would like to get a clear position earlier from a German company that was also linked to the Nazi regime,” Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of German Jews, said in a statement. “Adidas has done a lot to distance itself from its past and, like many sports brands, is one of those companies that runs big campaigns against anti-Semitism and racism. Therefore, an earlier breakup with Kanye West would be appropriate.”