The Adidas-Yeezy partnership collapsed in October 2022 after Kanye West launched a series of increasingly public confrontations with Adidas and made repeated antisemitic remarks. Days after wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, West appeared on the Drink Champs podcast and asserted that Adidas could not drop him because of his celebrity and the commercial power of Yeezy. He continued the remarks across Instagram, Twitter, interviews, and podcasts, while also attacking Adidas chief executive Kasper Rørsted and accusing the company of copying his designs and using its Yeezy Day sales event without his authorization. Adidas initially placed the relationship under review on October 7, amid a growing public campaign demanding that it sever ties. Balenciaga, Vogue, Creative Artists Agency, and MRC also cut ties with West, while the antisemitic Goyim Defense League publicly endorsed him, intensifying pressure on the sportswear company. An investigative New York Times report by Megan Twohey, based on hundreds of internal records and interviews with current and former employees in Portland and Los Angeles, reported misconduct dating back to 2013. On October 25, Adidas terminated the collaboration immediately, ending production and royalty payments. The breakup threatened roughly $2 billion in annual Adidas sales, about 10 percent of the company's revenue, and Adidas warned of a possible $1.3 billion revenue shortfall in 2023. Forbes estimated that West's net worth fell from approximately $2 billion to $400 million. The remaining footwear inventory was later sold under a 2023 agreement, with some proceeds directed to charitable organizations, but the clothing line and new designs were excluded.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2020s
The 2022 Adidas-Yeezy Implosion: Antisemitic Tirades Cost West a Billion-Dollar Partnership
Kanye West, Yeezy, and Adidas / 2020s
The Adidas-Yeezy partnership collapsed in October 2022 after Kanye West launched a series of increasingly public confrontations with Adidas and made repeated antisemitic remarks. Days after wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, West appeared on the Drink Champs podcast and asserted that Adidas could not drop him because of his celebrity and the commercial power of Yeezy. He continued the remarks across Instagram, Twitter, interviews, and podcasts, while also attacking Adidas chief executive Kasper Rørsted and accusing the company of copying his designs and using its Yeezy Day sales event without his authorization. Adidas initially placed the relationship under review on October 7, amid a growing public campaign demanding that it sever ties. Balenciaga, Vogue, Creative Artists Agency, and MRC also cut ties with West, while the antisemitic Goyim Defense League publicly endorsed him, intensifying pressure on the sportswear company. An investigative New York Times report by Megan Twohey, based on hundreds of internal records and interviews with current and former employees in Portland and Los Angeles, reported misconduct dating back to 2013. On October 25, Adidas terminated the collaboration immediately, ending production and royalty payments. The breakup threatened roughly $2 billion in annual Adidas sales, about 10 percent of the company's revenue, and Adidas warned of a possible $1.3 billion revenue shortfall in 2023. Forbes estimated that West's net worth fell from approximately $2 billion to $400 million. The remaining footwear inventory was later sold under a 2023 agreement, with some proceeds directed to charitable organizations, but the clothing line and new designs were excluded.
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