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Topics: Kanye West, Racism, Celebrity, Fashion
Joe Harker
Adidas are predicted to lose around $245 million after cutting ties with Kanye West following his anti-semitic comments.
The sportswear giant today (25 October) made the decision to ditch the rapper, releasing a statement saying their brand 'does not tolerate anti-semitism and any other sort of hate speech'.
West - who has changed his name to Ye - had said he would go 'death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE' on Twitter, for which he was kicked off the social media site.
He then doubled down on his comments, spouting further anti-semitic nonsense which got him kicked off Instagram as he claimed he was getting 'canceled'.
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The rapper later admitted what he said was racist and insisted he didn't regret saying it, saying he 'fought fire with fire'.
Adidas had previously said their partnership with Ye was 'under review', with the Anti-Defamation League responding by asking 'what more do you need to review?'.
Now, Adidas have declared they are cutting ties and the sportswear brand believes the move will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in the short term.
According to the New York Times, the sportswear giant believe cutting ties with West will cost over $245 million.
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However, the cost of doing business with someone as polarising and controversial as West following his slew of anti-semitic comments has to be considered, with the NYT reporting that the Adidas stock price has dropped by 23 percent over the past month following Kanye's comments.
Whether from a moral or monetary perspective it made sense to get rid of Ye, with Adidas saying his anti-Semitic comments were 'unacceptable, hateful and dangerous'.
They announced that they would be dropping their Adidas Yeezy range, which they made in partnership with the rapper, with 'immediate effect'.
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Adidas had faced calls to ditch West following his anti-semitism, with a petition demanding they drop him reaching over 150,000 signatures and many others calling for them to break away from the rapper.
In addition to being ditched by Adidas, he was also dropped by talent agency CAA who had represented him since 2016, while a completed documentary about him is also getthing shelved.
Audiences also appear to be turning away from his music as streams and sales of his songs are down significantly.
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Fashion magazine Vogue and brand Balenciaga have also said they don't plan to work with West again.
He's also not going to be legally represented by Camille Vasquez, the lawyer who entered the public eye after recently representing Johnny Depp.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org