Kanye West created havoc in the industry stirring many controversies. The year 2022 was a dooms year for the rapper. He had lost many things due to his vengeful and erratic behavior. He descended to the bottom after arduously creating a name and space for himself. It all started with his ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirts at the Paris Fashion Week. After racially charged statements, he went after the Jews. Due to his hate train, many leading companies severed ties with the ‘College Dropout’ rapper.
Among the companies, there were two fashion giants Adidas and Balenciaga who cut ties with Ye and his brand Yeezy. The brands have been a long-time collaborator with the rapper. West reinvigorated Adidas after constant failing attempts to produce some of the sleekest sneakers in the business. However, the growing anti-Semitism and erratic behavior caused the company to cut ties. It affected the brand heavily with the S&P now grading it poorly.
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Adidas Debt Ranking Fell From ‘A+’ To ‘A-‘ After Cutting Ties With Kanye West
S&P rankings aid to get a clear picture of the ability of the companies to repay the debt borrowings. The company has given a poor grade to Adidas after it announced severing its long-term ties with Kanye West. In October 2022, Adidas finally announced that it will sever ties with Ye after he went on a rampage hurting the sentiments of the Jews with anti-Semitic rants.
In its statement, the German shoe mogul said, “Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech”. According to the company, Kanye’s remarks “have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness”.
After severing the ties, Adidas reported that it may face a loss of $247 million from the Yeezy collaboration in 2022. Now, the S&P has graded the company an ‘A-‘ which could fall further.
In their statement, the company said, “Adidas faces a multitude of business challenges, including the termination of its Yeezy partnership, ongoing competitive pressures in the Chinese market, and a contraction of consumer demand in Western countries”.
In Case You Missed: How Much Money Did Adidas Lose Due To Kanye West’s Termination?
The Shoe Giant Will Continue Producing The Yeezys
Nothing is stopping Adidas from producing the Adidas Yeezy. Despite breaking ties with Kanye, Harm Ohlmeyer, the CFO said that the production should continue, but the rebranding and relaunching should be dissociated with Ye. Adidas will launch new training shoes in 2023. It assured that the company is the sole owner of the Yeezy shoes in circulation.
Adidas’ CEO said, “Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights registered to existing products. We intend to make use of these rights as early as 2023. We own all the versions and new colorways. It’s our IP. We are working through all the options. When the time is right we will be more specific”.
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