Kanye West and adidas Officially Settle All Claims
“Both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore.”
In 2022, Adidas announced it would be terminating its seven-year-long partnership with Kanye West. The decision followed his “White Lives Matter” T-shirt stunt at Paris Fashion Week, subsequent criticism of Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, and the antisemitic statements that followed.
According to Reuters, the duo has finally reached an out-of-court settlement regarding the partnership, a full two years later. “Both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” said adidas chief executive officer Bjorn Gulden in a statement via Business of Fashion.
Gulden also confirmed that no payments were included in their agreement, adding, “No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.”
The initial termination of the partnership came as adidas was pressured to make a move in response to Ye‘s outburst and continued behavior. The official statement, released on the adidas website, read: “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.”
Following the terminated deal, it was reported that adidas was left with approximately $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy products, which eventually, they decided to continue selling — hoping to conclude all sales of the collaborative line by the end of the year.
Stay tuned for further updates.
