Kanye West sabotaged his career by displaying antics that damaged his reputation in both the music and fashion industries. He went into a deep abyss of hate by introducing the Yeezy shirts with ‘White Lives Matter’ printed on them. Later, he went on a rampage, spewing hate against the Jews. This led to the industry outcasting the rapper, with brands like Adidas, Balenciaga, Vogue, and others severing ties with him.
One of the major blows for Kanye West was the cancellation of the deal with Adidas. It toppled his finances and threw him off the list as one of the billionaires in the hip-hop industry. Adidas also faced the brunt of severing ties with Ye’s Yeezy. The company estimated $498 million after cutting ties with the rapper and his brand. The shoe giant released a statement condemning the actions of Ye and stating that the company does not tolerate anti-Semitism. But now Adidas’ CEO, Bjørn Gulden, is defending Ye’s anti-Semitic actions.
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Adidas’ CEO Bjørn Gulden Says Kanye West Did Not Mean Anything He Said During Anti-Semitic Rant
In October 2022, after making a racially provocative fashion statement, Kanye West started his hate rant against the Jews. Due to this, his social media accounts were suspended, and the industry boycotted Ye and his company, Yeezy.
However, Adidas still held back their reaction to Ye’s hate speech against the Jewish community. The rapper was sure that Adidas would not “s***” after he made anti-Semitic statements.
Nevertheless, Adidas also decided to cut ties with Kanye West and his brand Yeezy, which helped the shoe giant strengthen their position. The company stated, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.”
The statement continued, “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.”
In a recent podcast interview, Adidas’ CEO Bjørn Gulden defended Kanye West and praised him, calling him one of the most creative people in the world. He said, “He’s extremely creative and has together with Adi created a Yeezy line that was very successful.”
He continued, saying, “And then, as creative people, he did some statements, which wasn’t that good. And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate, because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person – it just came across that way.”
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Adidas Has Made Over $565 Million By Selling First Batch Of Yeezys After Severing Ties With The Rapper
In the podcast interview, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden expressed his discontent after the company severed ties with Ye. He said, “One of the most successful collabs in history – very sad. But again, when you work with third parties, that could happen. It’s part of the game. That can happen with an athlete, it can happen with an entertainer. It’s part of the business.”
Recently, Adidas sold the remaining Yeezys and earned over $565 million from the sales. The company sold over 4 million pairs of Yeezys. Earlier, the shoe giant was in a dilemma about whether to burn the inventory or sell the remaining stocks after the anti-Semitic statements made by Kanye West. Adidas decided to sell the inventory and transfer all the profits to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League. Adidas’ CFO, Harm Ohlmeyer, informed us that they have already donated $20 million to charity and will transfer an additional $120 million towards charity.
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