Kanye West has never been one to shy away from sharing his opinions, making him one of the most outspoken rappers in history.
Despite knowing his words may stir up controversy, he has always spoken his mind. Over the years, Kanye has had a rocky relationship with Adidas. While the rapper and brand have worked together on iconic shoe designs, their falling out has become a legendary tale in the industry.
Venting his frustrations, Kanye West took to Instagram in a lengthy rant on Tuesday evening, accusing Adidas of still reaping the benefits of his Yeezy brand, even after parting ways with the company.
“When you google http://Yeezy.com the adidas site comes before the Yeezy site,” he wrote on Instagram. “Stop doing this. Stop doing your moves to hold me back. Our partnership is done.” West went on to accuse Adidas of trying to cripple his financial status when the brand decided to no longer work with him. “You’re a 60 billion dollar company that froze my accounts,” he explained. “Now I’m back on my feet (no pun intended) and I’m not going to stand for this (no pun again).”
Kanye West proceeded to call out Adidas and fashion designer Jerry Lorenzo for taking his ideas and failing to properly credit or compensate him. “I had major issues with adidas because of design theft and oppression before ‘the tweet,'” he noted. “Jerry was corny and disloyal for doing work with Adidas after the way they handled things.” The most pointed bit of critique aimed at the brand, however, came in the middle of Kanye West’s written rant. The rapper claimed that Adidas merely used him to boost sales and their creative profile. “They never wanted to truly work for the king,” he opined. “They wanted to use the king. Get paid, more than they would get paid anywhere else.”
Kanye West’s lengthy takedown of Adidas arrives months after the brand attempted to put an end to the controversy surrounding their partnership. Adidas chief executive Bjorn Gulden claimed that the “drama” involving West “belongs in the past” as recently as October. He also told reporters that remaining Yeezy stock should be sold by 2025. It appears as though Kanye West still has problems with Adidas. He also told followers that he has been working on new Yeezy designs. “I’ve been working on ten other styles for the past 2 years,” he teased. “It’s Yeezy for the people.”
