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Topics: Kanye West, US News, Music, Fashion
Dominic Smithers
Topics: Kanye West, US News, Music, Fashion
It's been quite a few weeks for Kanye West, with the star losing billions following his antisemitic comments.
The singer, who legally changed his name to Ye, came in for criticism when he posted a tweet saying he was going to go 'def con 3 on Jewish people'.
And since then, he has doubled down, with him going on to claim that Jews 'owned the Black voice' and controlled the media.
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West also said he was '#MeToo-ing the Jewish culture' and that people needed to 'stand up and admit to what you been doing'.
Following his controversial and offensive remarks, a number of sponsors and companies dropped him, including Adidas.
In a statement, the company, which was heavily criticised for not acting sooner, 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."
The move led to West losing a huge chunk of his wealth, and even his billionaire status.
Despite severing ties with the 45-year-old, though, Adidas plans on continuing to sell his Yeezys.
Adidas finance chief Harm Ohlmeyer explained during a quarterly earnings call: "Going forward, we will leverage the existing inventory with the exact plans being developed as we speak."
He said Adidas has the intellectual property for new versions and 'new colorways'.
When asked what the company plans to do with the existing inventory of Yeezys, Ohlmeyer told Business Insider: "We need to take our time to review what the best options are.
"When the time is right we will be more concrete."
According to TMZ, a spokesperson for Adidas confirmed that West would not be receiving a cent from the sale of the remaining rebranded Yeezy stock.
The only design Adidas will probably struggle with is the Yeezy Slide, as the patent is owned by Ye.
When unveiling its Adilette 22 sandals earlier this year, Adidas brought out a shoe that was eerily similar to the rapper's Yeezy Slide. And it's safe to say that West wasn't best please.
"I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more," he said. "This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can’t cause they’ll loose [sic] their contract or be called crazy.
"These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent."
UNILAD has reached out to Adidas for comment.