Herzogenaurach, Germany- German sportswear, Adidas, has parted ways with Ye “Kanye West” due to his antisemitic remarks.
Ye recently made a slew of anti-Semitic remarks, triggering widespread outrage and resulting in his accounts on Twitter and Instagram being restricted.
As a result, Adidas then said earlier this month, that it was reviewing its relationship with Ye after he appeared wearing a White Lives Matter t-shirt at a fashion show in Paris.
“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 does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech, “ read a statement from the German sportswear.
Earlier this month, Ye tweeted that he was “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” before alleging he wasn’t “Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew also”.
In addition, the 45-year-old billionaire said, “You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
The tweeter rants which are now deleted came after he accused record producer, entrepreneur, and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs of being controlled by “the Jewish people” in a post on Instagram.
Afterward, he was restricted from posting, commenting, and messaging on Instagram and had his account locked on Twitter.
Nevertheless, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said they welcomed Adidas’ decision.
“It illustrates that anti-Semitism is unacceptable and creates consequences. Without a doubt, Adidas has done the right thing by cutting ties with Ye after his vicious anti-Semitic rants.
In the end, Adidas’ action sends a powerful message that anti-Semitism and bigotry have no place in society,” said Greenblatt.
However, shares of Adidas fell about 5 percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Tuesday following the announcement.
Adidas said it would take a short-term hit of US$249 million from its income for this year after deciding to stop the brand’s business with immediate effect.
It is also to end the production of items under Ye’s Yeezy brand and stop all payments to the musician and his companies.
Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Adidas had faced growing calls from Jewish and rights groups to end its association with West.
Ye has also made several other controversial remarks recently, including suggestions slavery was “a choice” and calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast”.
He recently announced he was buying conservative social media platform Parler, which became a hub and bubble for right-wing and far-right conspiracy theorists who felt censored on more mainstream platforms.
