The brand said it was the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colour variations under the Yeezy partnership.
Adidas’s move comes after Balenciaga, Gap and JPMorgan Chase all cut ties with West after repeated antisemitic remarks. The rapper’s longtime talent agency CAA stopped representing him in the past month, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The rapper recently claimed Adidas could not drop him, despite his comments fuelling calls for a boycott. The remarks also prompted the Anti-Defamation League to call on Adidas to end its business with West.
West has a history of courting controversy, including a 2020 aborted run for president and claims that slavery was a “choice”. However, the rapper, who is bipolar, had until recently experienced limited repercussions over past comments.
Twitter locked West’s account on 9 October after it removed one of his tweets that said he was going “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”. The platform said it violated its policies against hate speech.
The Facebook owner Meta restricted West’s Instagram account on 7 October after the rapper made an antisemitic post in which he appeared to suggest the rapper Diddy was controlled by Jewish people – an antisemitic trope.
The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany on Tuesday said the sportswear manufacturer had a special responsibility to cut ties with West given its history in the Nazi era.
“Adidas has to face up to its historic responsibility not just as a German company, but also as a company that was tangled up with and profited from the National Socialist dictatorship”, Josef Schuster told the tabloid newspaper Bild.
“Since then, Adidas has done a lot to distance itself from its past,” Schuster added. “If this is to be believable, then cutting ties with Kanye West is mandatory. Not the best sneaker can be worth being linked to the depths that this artist has lowered himself to.”
ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
