Adidas has formally ended its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, now known as Ye, over anti-Semitic remarks. The sportswear company is the latest company to cut ties with Ye, after Balenciaga. This is a decision that the German sportswear company said would hit its bottom line.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “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.”
The company faced pressure to cut ties with Ye, with celebrities and others on social media urging Adidas to act. It said at the beginning of the month that it was placing its lucrative sneaker deal with the rapper under review.
Adidas also said on Tuesday that it conducted a “thorough review” and would immediately stop production of its line of Yeezy products and stop payments to Ye and his companies. The sportswear company said it was expected to take a hit of up to 250 million euros ($246m) to its net income this year from the decision.
The move by Adidas, whose CEO Kasper Rorsted is stepping down next year, comes after Ye was suspended from Twitter and Instagram this month over anti-Semitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies.
Forbes magazine said it had valued Ye’s share of the Adidas deal at $1.5bn. The end of that partnership deal meant his net worth shrank to $400m, it said.
The remainder of Ye’s wealth comes from real estate, cash, his music catalogue and a 5 percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims, Forbes said.
