Kanye West’s words and actions are continuing to have negative consequences. It’s just been revealed that Adidas will continue selling his super-popular Yeezy trainers, despite terminating its partnership with him last month, only under a different name.
The German sportswear company ended its $1.5B partnership with the 45-year-old Yeezy designer in October, following his anti-Semitic comments, including saying he would “go to death con 3” on Jewish people. At the time, Adidas said it “does not tolerate anti-Semitism” and called Ye’s comments “dangerous and hateful.”
According to a press release from October 25th, Adidas said it would “end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.” It also acknowledged that it would be taking a loss as a result of terminating its partnership with Ye and therefore, Yeezy branded products.
Kanye’s partnership with Adidas began in 2015 with the Boost 750 shoe, and has been going from strength to strength ever since. But fans of the popular trainers needn’t fear – or bulk buy – as the Ye-designed footwear will still continue to be produced, as Adidas is the “sole owner” of the design rights, although they won’t have the same name moving forward. Several outlets have reported that the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Harm Ohlmeyer, explained its plans for the future in a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, November 9th, and said plans to “leverage the existing inventory” were currently being developed.
“I can confirm that Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights related to existing product, as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership,” Ohlmeyer said. “We intend to make use of these rights as early as 2023,” he added. Ohlmeyer also went on to say that, although the company will initially suffer a loss, he predicts that things will soon pick up as they won’t come with the extra costs associated with such a partnership.
As expected, there has been a lot of backlash following Adidas’ decision. Although Kanye has yet to publicly address the news himself, many of his fans have slammed the company for its decision to continue making and selling Yeezys, claiming that they wouldn’t have been as popular without his name or his design input, and they will therefore be boycotting the company moving forward.
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