Kanye West, Adidas Reach Out-of-Court Settlement After Severing Ties Over Rapper’s Antisemitic Comments
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Singer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West (2nd R), laughs before presenting his Fall/Winter 2015 partnership with Adidas at New York Fashion Week February 12, 2015. Photo: Reuters
Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to end legal proceedings between both parties two years after the German sportswear company ended its partnership with the rapper and Yeezy designer because of his antisemitic comments.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden announced the news in a conference call with reporters. He said neither party will walk away with any money from the settlement, Reuters reported.
“There isn’t any more open issues and there is no … money going either way, and we both move on,” he said. “There were tensions on many issues, and … both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims.” Gulden added that the company’s controversy with Ye “belongs to the past.”
“When you have conflicts like this, you take provisions and you have legal opinions and there are negotiations and there are settlements being done, and this is the end to it,” he explained, according to the BBC. “No one owes anything to anybody anymore. Whatever was is history.”
It remains unclear what legal disputes were ongoing between Adidas and Ye before a settlement was reached. It was previously reported that both sides were engaged in a private arbitration case over the termination of the partnership, but details about the case were not publicized.
Adidas is still selling its remaining inventory of Yeezy items, but Gulden noted on Tuesday that the company will sell the final stock by the end of 2024, according to the BBC. The Adidas CEO said last year that the company would donate some of the proceeds made from its leftover Yeezy inventory to groups fighting antisemitism and discrimination, such as the Anti-Defamation League and Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
Adidas and Ye began collaborating on the Yeezy line of sneakers in 2014, but in October and December 2022, the “Flashing Lights” singer made a series of antisemitic comments on and off social media, including writing on X that he wanted to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” He also uploaded images of antisemitic tropes on his social media accounts, such as an image of a swastika intertwined with a Star of David. He then praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and denied facts about the Holocaust in an interview with far-right talk show host Alex Jones, and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes during an interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
As a result of his comments, Adidas — among many other companies — severed business ties with Ye and his Yeezy brand. The company said at the time that it 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.”
