Kanye West, a rapper-turned-fashion entrepreneur, recently challenged Adidas to fire him after he made a barrage of antisemitic remarks on social media for weeks and appeared on national television.
I can spew antisemitic s—- and Adidas cannot drop me, the rapper who is now known by the stage name “Ye” claimed on the Drink Champs podcast earlier this month. Because he has been collaborating with Adidas since 2013 on his massively popular and pricey Yeezy shoe line, Ye thought he was impervious to harm. After all, between 4% and 8% of Adidas’ overall sales are accounted for by Yeezy items, according to financial firm Cowen. Because it increased Ye’s worth by $1.5 billion, it had a significantly greater impact on him.
Ye’s comments, however, put the German athletic wear industry under fire because of its own, long-standing Nazi connections. The pressure on Adidas to sever ties with Ye grew as his slew of antisemitic remarks drew condemnation from Hollywood’s elite. Adidas stayed silent for weeks, save for a statement on October 6 that said their partnership with Ye was “under review.” Adidas came under increased fire after a picture of a sign reading, “Kanye was right about the Jews” and a group of white supremacists saluting approaching traffic was posted online over the weekend. The “death con 3 on Jewish people” statement that had Ye’s Twitter account locked, other anti-Semitic comments that got him barred on Instagram, and a chorus of tens of thousands of social media users calling for Adidas to also drop Ye appear to be what the white nationalists were alluding to.
Adidas finally spoke out and ended the connection on, Tuesday, October 25. They will pay a high price for that, but Ye will suffer far more because he is immediately kicked out of the millionaires’ club. Adidas condemns all forms of hate speech, including antisemitism. The company stated in a news release that Ye’s recent words and actions, which were disrespectful, hateful, and dangerous, contradicted the firm’s values of diversity and inclusivity, mutual respect, and fairness. After giving it some thought, the business has decided to immediately sever its relationship with Ye, stop producing goods under the Yeezy brand, and stop making payments to Ye and his businesses. Adidas’s Adidas Yeezy business will stop operating right away. Ye is no longer a billionaire after it is gone.
A multiplier of yearly earnings was used to calculate the $1.5 billion value of the Adidas transaction. The royalties Ye received from Adidas were comparable to residuals from films or music CDs, according to Forbes’ examination of industry experts interviews.
Kanye Draws Criticism for Wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt at a Fashion Event
These experts predict that Adidas’ income stream may be sold off, similar to what hundreds of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, have done during the past two years. Without Adidas, Ye would be worth $400,000,000. The majority of Ye’s riches, according to Forbes, is made up of his music collection, real estate, cash, and a 5% stake in his ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear business, Skims.
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