Adidas Cuts Ties With Kanye After Criticism Over His Antisemitic Comments

Adidas has officially cut ties with Kanye West, after the sportswear giant faced pressure and criticism for its silence amid his antisemitic comments.

West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has been at the center of a storm of criticism in recent weeks over his repeated antisemitic comments, including writing on Twitter on October 3 that he was "going death con 3 on Jewish people."

The musician and fashion designer said that he "actually can't be Anti-Semitic because Black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda."

In a statement on Tuesday, Adidas told Newsweek that it "does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.

"After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.

"This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company's net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter."

The company said that it is "the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership," adding that more information will be provided as part of the company's upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9.

Newsweek has reached out to a representative of West for comment.

During an October 16 episode of the Drink Champs podcast, West made more antisemitic comments and asserted that his behavior would not get him dropped by Adidas, with whom he had worked on his Yeezy sneaker collections since 2015.

"The thing about me and Adidas is like, I can literally say antisemitic s*** and they can't drop me. I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can't drop me. Now what?" West said during his interview.

Social justice groups, celebrities, politicians and others condemned the message, and West was locked from his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Several companies that had partnerships with him cut ties over the controversy, including Balenciaga and Hollywood talent agency CAA, but Adidas remained publicly silent, sparking criticism.

Amid a Yeezy boycott, a petition was recently launched calling for Adidas to cut ties with West. The Change.org petition exceeded 160,000 signatures by Tuesday morning.

Adidas' stock had dropped over the past few days, though it was not immediately clear if the decline was directly linked to West's controversy. As of 2:45 p.m. ET on Monday, Adidas' stock was showing at -13.65 percent over the previous five days. Taking just Monday into account, the stock was showing at -0.50 percent as of the same time. The graphic below, provided by Statista, plots the Adidas share price since January 2019.

West also made antisemitic comments during an October 18 appearance on NewsNation's Cuomo, where he said: "Jewish people own the Black voice."

He then appeared on Piers Morgan's TalkTV show on Friday where he labeled the host a "Karen" for challenging him on his antisemitic comments.

When asked if he regretted his comments, West replied: "No, absolutely not. Absolutely not."

Morgan told him he "should be" sorry. "When you insult the Jewish people and say you're 'going death con 3 on the Jewish people,' that is as racist as anything you say you've been through and any pain that you've experienced," he told the rapper. "It's the same thing. Racism is racism and you know that."

West said he was aware his comments were racist, but he had "fought fire with fire."

"I'm not here to get hosed down. I'm a different type of freedom fighter," he said, but later apologized. "I will say I'm sorry for the people that I hurt with the death con, with the confusion."

West said: "I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I am sorry for the families of the people who had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through. I used my platform where you say, I hurt people, and I was hurt."

Adidas was already conducting a review of its relationship with West before his Twitter posts. The company launched a review earlier this month after West wore a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt to his Yeezy brand fashion show and publicly criticized Adidas.

"After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review," Adidas said in a statement, according to CNN. "We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period."

In September, West targeted Adidas and Gap, accusing both companies of stealing his designs and attempting to shut him out of business meetings. West's apparel deal with Gap was brought to an end soon afterward.

News of West's severed business relationship with Adidas comes after Newsweek revealed why major bank JPMorgan cut ties with the "Jesus Walks" rapper.

Earlier this month, controversial pundit Candace Owens tweeted that West had been "kicked out" by the bank, with "no official reason given."

She shared screenshots allegedly from JPMorgan to West severing their "banking relationship" and asking him to move his finances to another institution.

But a source told Newsweek the letter was dated September 20—a month before his latest controversial comments.

In fact, the decision was made after West had made negative comments about the bank and its executives in early September, but later deleted the posts.

West's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, counted herself among the critics of his comments on Monday, when she released a statement condemning antisemitism.

While she made no mention of her former husband, the TV personality tweeted: "Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end."