Adidas under fire for silence over Ye’s anti-Semitic comments

German sneaker maker Adidas is under mounting pressure to sever ties with Ye after the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West made anti-Semitic remarks.

Ye has been facing growing fallout after his comments over the past few weeks targeting Jewish people, including a tweet that resulted in Twitter suspending his account.

Film and TV studio MRC said on Monday it won’t release a recently completed documentary made with Ye. Over the past month he has been dropped by his concert-touring representative and luxury label Balenciaga said it has stopped working with him. 

Comments Ye made earlier this month have put the spotlight on his relationship with Adidas, an almost decade-long partnership that Morningstar analyst David Swartz estimates generates about $2bn (R37bn) in annual revenue for the sportswear maker.

Prominent people including TV host Chelsea Handler and former White House staffer Alexander Vindman are publicly questioning the lack of action from Adidas.

The Washington Post reported that over the weekend footage resurfaced on Twitter of an interview in which Ye said: “I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”

The episode of the podcast Drink Champs was subsequently pulled because Ye also espoused disinformation about the murder of George Floyd, according to The Washington Post. He wore a shirt at the recent Paris fashion week that said “White Lives Matter”.

A representative for Adidas didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment sent outside European business hours.

Adidas said earlier this month it was reviewing its relationship with Ye amid growing acrimony between the two parties, even though the Yeezy line has been among the most successful footwear collaborations ever. The company last week issued its second profit warning in three months, with weaker demand leading to bloated inventories.

Last month Ye and his other prominent corporate partner Gap. split after a public spat where he criticised the retailer.

In a September interview with Bloomberg News, Ye disavowed his corporate deals and said it was time to do business on his own, sharing plans to open his own stores.

Ye this month agreed to buy Parler, a social media platform embraced by conservatives who departed Twitter over allegations of political censorship.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com