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Are we witnessing the rise and fall of Yeezy? Adidas is the latest company to cut ties with Kanye West due to his erratic behavior. The German multinational corporation, founded by Adi Dassler, has ended its partnership with the rapper with “immediate effect.”
As informed by CNN Business, the company released a statement saying they “do not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech” and said West’s comments were “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” Adidas also said their decision comes after the “Donda” singer violated the company’s “values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Adidas no longer sells and produces Yeezy-branded products, and payments to Kanye and his companies have stopped. Adidas is embracing losing €250 million ($246 million) in their fourth-quarter sales.
Adidas and West began their partnership in 2013. In 2016, Adidas described their relationship as “the most significant partnership ever created between a non-athlete and an athletic brand.”
Despite all benefits the rapper brought to the company; they put the “partnership under review” after West wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt during Paris Fashion Week. White supremacist groups use the “hate slogan” to debilitate the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
The last straw came after Kanye assured Adidas wouldn’t dare to cancel him. “I can say antisemitic s***, and Adidas cannot drop me,” he assured multiple times on the Drink Champs Podcast.
In addition to Adidas, other brands such as Balenciaga and Vogue retired their support to Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband. The talent agency CAA also dropped West as a client. At the same time, production company MRC it’s shelving West’s documentary.
Kanye has been restricted on Twitter for his behavior. He acquired the conservative social media channel Parler to continue his rant on another app.
The turmoil continued when West appeared on a podcast and falsely claimed George Floyd died due to abuse of substances. Floyd’s estate informed they would be suing the rapper for USD 250M.
Recently, reports of West hiring Latina attorney Camille Vasquez began circulating after the rapper’s recent legal troubles. However, Camille Vasquez’s working relationship with Kanye West came to an end after a few days.
TMZ reports that sources with direct knowledge revealed that Camille informed her firm, Brown Rudnick, she would no longer work with Kanye because he refuses to take back his controversial anti-Semitic remarks.
Brown Rudnick asked the rapper to retract his hateful comments publicly, but after Kanye refused the request, he decided to no longer work with the law firm.