Adidas has terminated its Yeezy partnership with Kanye West, saying that it 'does not tolerate' anti-semitism.
The rapper has faced criticism from across the globe for posting anti-semitic statements on social media in recent weeks, including a tweet sent on October 8 stating he would go 'death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE'.
Adidas has since dropped the star, saying in a statement today (25 October): "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.
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"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."
Many people have since been sharing an October 16 episode of Drink Champs in which Ye claimed: "I can say antisemitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?"
Rather than apologise for the tweet that got him banned from the social media site, Ye doubled down on his remarks, claiming he was 'happy to have crossed the line'.
There was mounting pressure on the sports brand to take action after 150,000 people signed a petition for it to drop the 45-year-old as a collaborator.
Earlier this month, the 45-year-old became involved in another controversy after wearing a 'White Lives Matter' t-shirt to his Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week.
The consumption of West's music has suffered as a result of the various scandals – according to data from Luminate, cited by Variety, streams of his albums went down by 23 percent in a week, and his airplay (plays on the radio) dropped by 13 percent in the US.
Meanwhile, his worldwide sales have slumped by 17.5 percent.
The Adidas deal will be a major financial blow to the 'Gold Digger' singer, who has also been dropped by talent agency CAA.
As reported by Variety, a completed documentary made about West will also be scrapped because of the comments, as revealed in an internal memo.
The documentary's producers MRC Entertainment wrote: "This morning, after discussion with our filmmakers and distribution partners, we made the decision not to proceed with any distribution for our recently completed documentary about Kanye West.
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"We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.
"Kanye is a producer and sampler of music. Last week he sampled and remixed a classic tune that has charted for over 3,000 years – the lie that Jews are evil and conspire to control the world for their own gain."
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
Topics: Kanye West, Fashion, US News, Racism
Daisy Phillipson