Adidas is set to receive a €100million boost after settling with Kanye West – after years of lawsuits that followed the abrupt end of their partnership.
Adidas and West – now known as Ye – had been embroiled in lawsuits after the rapper’s anti-Semitic comments made on X/Twitter caused the sportswear brand to pull their sponsorship under the collaborative Yeezy brand.
While the rapper and producer has refused to accept that the term “anti-Semitism” exists because he claims it’s “not factual”, he did offer something of an “apology” to those whom he’s offended with his comments. Earlier this year, West also said that he was “two months from going bankrupt” after Adidas cut ties with him.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden revealed in a press call today (October 29) that “both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” per Bloomberg. He added: “The agreement didn’t include any payments. No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.”
NME has reached out to Yeezy representatives for comment.
According to Financial Times, Adidas will also receive a boost of around €100mn to its operating profit after it unwound a previous provision relating to outstanding legal issues in the aftermath of the settlement. Gulden noted in the call that the company would donate to charity an amount equal to its €100mn provision.
Last year, Gulden admitted that the loss of Yeezy was “of course hurting us”, particularly sales in North America, which had seen a 20 per cent loss. The Yeezy loss cut sales by €400m (£350million) in the first quarter of 2023.
A New York Times investigation published last year on October 27 saw current and former employees of Adidas and West claim that the musician had reportedly been engaging in anti-Semitic behaviour since early meetings in 2013. For one, according to the investigation, Adidas presented West with a series of designs for the upcoming line. West, however, was not impressed; two people in the meeting alleged that he “grabbed a sketch of a shoe” and “drew a swastika.”
This does not spell the end of legal troubles for Ye, though. An apparent former deputy campaign manager – filing a complaint under anonymity earlier this month – claims that he was hired to conduct “various investigations” on the likes of attorneys, those who have sued the rapper as well as his family and loved ones such as his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and current wife Bianca Censori.
A lawsuit by an ex-assistant filed in June was expanded with amendments claiming that she was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted by West at a studio session in California. At the time of the original lawsuit, West responded in a statement made to Rolling Stone via his legal representative, calling Pisciotta’s accusations “baseless”, and announcing he planned to countersue.
Meanwhile, ex-partner Julia Fox admitted in a recent interview that she regrets entering a relationship with West, which she says put her in “probably the most uncomfortable position in my life”.
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