Adidas ends “dispute” with Kanye West over anti-Semitic comments

Adidas ended its “battle” with Kanye West over his anti-Semitic comments in 2022, scuppering the collaboration between the sports brand and US rapper “Yeezy”.

Adidas discontinued the collection at the time and began selling Yeezy inventory at wholesale prices.

However, on Tuesday the company said it had reached an agreement with Mr West to end all legal proceedings between them.

“There are no more unanswered questions and no money is flowing in one direction or the other,” Adidas boss Björn Gulden said in a conference call.

“There was tension on many issues (but) … both parties said we didn't need to argue anymore,” Gulden said on the company's latest financial results conference call.

The drama with West “is a thing of the past,” he added.

“When there are conflicts like this, you make arrangements and you have legal opinions and there are negotiations and settlements are made and that's the end of it.”

“No one owes anyone anything anymore. What was is history,” he said.

By ending the partnership, Adidas will have Yeezy shares worth around €1.2bn (£840m). The sports brand sells the products in batches and donates the proceeds to NGOs, including its own recently launched anti-discrimination foundation.

The last Yeezy shares will be sold by the end of 2024, the company said.

The decision to give up the “fight” represents a stark contrast to 2022. At the time, Adidas said it would not tolerate “anti-Semitism or any other type of hate speech.”

It added: “Ye's recent comments and actions were unacceptable, hateful and dangerous and violate the company's values ​​of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

Adidas and Mr West began working together in 2014, resulting in a hugely successful sportswear brand.

Demand for Yeezy products didn't slow down even after the uproar, with many Yeezy sneakers doing well on the resale market, selling for hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of pounds.

West's accounts on Instagram and X (then known as Twitter) were suspended when he made a series of anti-Semitic comments in October 2022.

He repeated the claims in a series of interviews and podcasts over the next two months, not all of which aired.

In December of that year, Mr. West appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' show “InfoWars,” where he spoke of his admiration for Adolf Hitler.

The rapper, now separated from celebrity Kim Kardashian, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years ago and has spoken publicly about his struggles with his mental health.