Adidas ends partnership with Kanye West over rapper’s ‘unacceptable, hateful and dangerous’ comments

Adidas has ended its partnership with Kanye West over “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” antisemitic posts by the rapper on social media.

In a statement, the German sportswear company said it had taken the decision to “terminate the partnership with Ye immediately”.

The company 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.”

Adidas is the latest among a string of companies which have cut ties with the rapper over his offensive posts on social media.

The 45-year-old, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, said he was going to go to “death con 3” on Jewish people and recently suggested slavery was a choice.

Adidas said it will also end the production of Yeezy-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.

The company had come under increased pressure to cut ties with West given his remarks, with celebrities and others on social media urging Adidas to act.

West has been criticised by his ex-wife Kim Kardashian who said “hate speech is never OK or excusable” and he was recently dropped by talent agency CAA.

Read more: What rapper said and how people have reacted

Adidas added that ending its partnership will have an expected “short-term negative impact” of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022.

West also attracted criticism for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his Yeezy collection show in Paris.

A completed documentary about West has also been shelved.

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West blocked from Instagram over ‘bullying’ in spat with Pete Davidson

The rapper has been suspended from Twitter and Instagram over posts that the social networks said violated their policies.

He is in the process of buying alternative messaging platform Parler. The site has styled itself as an unbiased platform and has become popular with those banned from Twitter, also hosting prominent American conservative voices.

The app only made its return to the Google Play Store last month, having been removed after the Capitol riots in January 2021 for allowing posts that seek “to incite ongoing violence in the US”.