adidas Announces It Is Parting Ways With Kanye West

In a move that is set to change the sneaker scene as we know it, adidas has officially announced it is to be parting ways with Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West.

Earlier this year, Ye had taken to social media to accuse adidas of copying his designs and mismanaging his brand, while also leveraging attacks on its directors. However, after trying to negotiate with Ye, the rapper’s contract was initially placed under review after he launched a series of anti-Semitic rants, which came shortly after he debuted ‘White Lives Matter’ tees as part of his Yeezy Season 9 show.

In a statement, adidas said:

"adidas 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.

adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership. More information will be given as part of the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022."

adidas is one of the last brands to cut ties with Ye. On October 21st, Balenciaga announced it would no longer be looking to continue its collaborative partnership with the Yeezy brand, as its parent company Kering offered an official statement on the matter that simply read: "Balenciaga no longer has any relationship nor plans for future projects related to this artist." GAP had already severed its ties back in September. In a more surprising move the rapper was also dropped by his talent agency, CAA on the 24th October.

What does this mean for the future of Yeezy? Is the fashion world finally done with Kanye West? Be sure to keep it locked to The Sole Supplier for all the latest info as things develop.