Kanye West made a demand and Adidas listened. After the rapper called out the brand on Instagram for continuing to benefit from his Yeezy designs despite cutting ties with him,
Adidas swiftly removed all references to Yeezy products from their website. This move followed Kanye West’s public criticism, where he accused Adidas of trying to have the best of both worlds.
When you google http://Yeezy.com the adidas site comes before the Yeezy site,” he claimed. “Stop doing this. Stop doing your moves to hold me back. Our partnership is done.”
Now, there are no traces of Yeezy products on the Adidas website, including past news articles and images. Adidas also confirmed that they plan to fully end their partnership with Yeezy by 2025.
Adidas chief executive Bjorn Gulden expressed an eagerness to put the Kanye West drama behind him during an October press conference. “There [aren’t] any more open issues,” the executive stated. “And there is no money going either way. There were tensions on many issues [but] both parties said we don’t need to fight any more… [It] belongs in the past.” Gulden went on to clarify that Adidas’ Yeezy stock was intended to be sold off by the end of 2024. Bjorn Gulden and Kanye West’s relationship has been tense, to say the least, over the last few years.
The rapper drew worldwide backlash for his Anti-Semitic remarks in 2022. These remarks are what led to Adidas severing ties, and withdrawing their involvement in Yeezy. The brand issued an official statement condemning West’s remarks. Gulden, however, claimed that the rapper did not mean what he said during a 2023 appearance on the podcast In Good Company. “I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person,” he explained. “It just came off that way… I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world.”
