Kanye West has slammed Adidas for releasing new ‘fake’ Yeezys without his consent – more than a year after the brand cut ties with the rapper over his anti-Semitic outbursts.
West, 46, has accused Adidas of ‘trying to rape your favorite artist’ after the brand announced it would begin a ‘further release of YEEZY inventory’ using their remaining stock, including products from 2022.
The musician claimed the sneakers labeled as his brand by the company were fakes and alleged Adidas were suing him for ‘250 million dollars.’
In a vitriolic Instagram video West said: ‘Not only are they putting out fake color ways, they are suing me for 250million dollars and they’re also not paying me – for shoes that they’re putting out that have my name on it.
‘And they’re using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist, one of y’all favourite artists, right in front of y’all in broad daylight.’
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Kanye West has slammed Adidas for releasing new ‘fake’ Yeezys without his consent – more than a year after the brand cut ties with the rapper over his anti-Semitic outbursts
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West, 46, has accused Adidas of ‘trying to rape your favorite artist’ after the brand announced it would begin a ‘further release of YEEZY inventory’ using their remaining stock, including products from 2022
He also shared a post of the Adidas Yeezy sneakers and wrote: ‘Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys.
‘I never made these color ways I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing.
‘As far as the system goes What yall gone do now Take my album down again Freeze my accounts again Threaten people to not work with me again All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.’
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Adidas for comment.
Adidas has made donations to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.
Shoes sold directly by Adidas in North America included blue square pins established by Robert Kraft´s Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism as a symbol of solidarity in rejecting antisemitism.
The company has accompanied the sales with donations to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
Adidas has made donations to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.
In October 2022 West was dropped by Adidas amid backlash over his anti-Semitic rant.
The rapper’s $220million annual deal with the German sports brand, which was worth $1.5billion in total, was terminated after his controversial behaviour – which saw him vow to go ‘death con 3 on Jewish people.’
According to Forbes, West was set to lose his billionaire status after cutting ties with the sportswear giant.
Adidas announced that they would be terminating their partnership in a statement, with the sportswear maker having put it’s deal with Ye under review.
Kanye West promotes his Yeezy website during Super Bowl
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Adidas revealed plans to sell its remaining Yeezy footwear on Monday – despite cutting ties with West
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The musician claimed the sneakers labeled as his brand by the company were fakes and alleged Adidas were suing him for ‘250 million dollars’
They claim that they made repeated efforts earlier that month ‘to privately resolve the situation.’
It came days after Kanye claimed on a podcast that the sneaker giant ‘cant drop him’, despite saying ‘anti-Semitic things’.
In a statement Adidas 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.’
The company also claimed that cutting ties with the rapper is likely to have a ‘negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022’.
The partnership began in 2013, after he let a collaboration with Nike, and was expected to be a ten-year-long production.
Before being dumped by the brand Kanye had already begun publicly sparring with Adidas executives, accusing them of ‘stealing’ his ideas.
West owns the Yeezy brand but Adidas pay him an annual royalty fee to sell the products.
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German sporting goods behemoth Adidas terminated its partnership with West amid controversial behavior from the American rapper and designer last year
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German sporting goods behemoth Adidas has ended its partnership with Kanye West amid controversial behavior from the American rapper and designer
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Kanye West attends the adidas show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Fall 2015
Kanye plays pornographic clip for Adidas execs before berating them
Adidas, whose founder Adi Dassler belonged to the Nazi Party, found themselves coming under increasing pressure to drop Kanye after several anti-Semitic comments.
Experts have also claimed that the resale market for Yeezy’s will explode because they will not be produced in mass quantities anymore.
Adidas poached Kanye from rival Nike Inc in 2013 and agreed to a new long-term partnership in 2016 in what the company then called ‘the most significant partnership created between a non-athlete and a sports brand.’
The tie-up has produced several hot-selling ‘Yeezy’ branded Adidas sneakers that could cost anywhere between $200 and $700. The partnership also helped the German brand close the gap with Nike in the U.S. market.
Yeezy generates about 1.5 billion euros ($1.47 billion) in annual sales for Adidas, making up a little over 7 per cent of the company’s total revenue, according to estimates from Telsey Advisory Group.
Shares of the company, which cut its full-year forecast last week, were down about 3 per cent on the report amid the controversy over Ye.
