Adidas Slammed Over Plan to Sell Yeezys Under New Name: 'The Disrespect!'

Kanye West fans have slammed Adidas' decision to rename his Yeezy collection after the sportswear company dumped him over antisemitic comments.

Adidas severed ties with the rapper — who has officially changed his name to Ye — last month after a series of controversial incidents including a string of allegedly antisemitic tweets in which he wrote he was "going death con 3 on Jewish people."

The company told Newsweek in a statement it would "stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect" because "does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech."

Adidas said in its statement that it was "the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership."

This left many wondering what would happen to West's popular fashion line, which has accounted for between $1 billion and $2 billion in annual sales for Adidas.

Adidas' chief financial officer, Harm Ohlmeyer, confirmed it would continue to sell Yeezys "as early as 2023."

"Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights registered to existing product," Ohlmeyer said, during the company's quarterly earnings call with media.

The only shoe unlikely to continue to be sold is the Yeezy Slide, for which West owns the patent.

Ohlmeyer told reporters that Adidas' annual revenue was likely to be $502 million lower than expected for 2022. But the company added it will save $302 million next year by not paying royalties to West or covering the marketing costs for the Yeezy brand.

The CFO also explained that Adidas hasn't decided whether it would destroy current Yeezy stock or sell it at a later date.

"We are working through all the options," Ohlmeyer said. "When the time is right we will be more specific."

Yeezy fans slammed the decision and pointed out that people mainly bought the product because of its association with West.

"Oh so Adidas don't want Kanye but wants to keep selling FAKE Yeezys?? The disrespect!" tweeted Stre3t_Dancer.

"You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't cut all ties, cut his royalties then sell the product that is attached to him. Nobody gives a f** if they own the designs legally, They support Ye. You will see... every post will be straight hate. Ye fanbase is insanely loyal," wrote La3Life.

Hip hop commentator Dom Is Live added: "Adidas will get a huge wake up call soon, some of us bought Yeezys because of Ye... not because of Adidas."

A string of companies including Balenciaga and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) have also cut ties with the rapper.

Forbes estimated the loss of the Adidas business relationship saw West's Ye's net wealth drop dramatically, from $2 billion to $400 million.