adidas Tolerated Ye's Misconduct for Almost a Decade, According to 'New York Times' Investigation

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, lost his highly-successful partnership with adidas after making antisemitic comments, as well as a slew of other offensive statements, in October of last year. However, according to a new report from The New York Times, adidas “had been tolerating his misconduct behind the scenes for nearly a decade.”

The German sportswear company officially severed ties with Ye at the tail-end of 2022, following a Twitter rampage that included his challenging of Jewish identities, his perpetuation of harmful conspiracy theories, and his threat to “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” The Times discovered that the company had actually dealt with his antisemitic behaviors since the beginning days of their partnership, which ultimately earned upwards of $1 billion USD per year and pushed Ye to billionaire status.

Per the examination, Ye “made antisemitic and sexually offensive comments, displayed erratic behavior, and issued ever escalating demands” throughout the partnership, and adidas’ leaders excused his poor behavior for the sake of profits.

The publication cites several instances in which Ye displayed misconduct with the company. In 2013, when adidas employees showed the artist their initial designs for YEEZY sneakers at the brand’s headquarters in Germany, Ye was not satisfied with the product and sketched a swastika on the toe of one shoe, according to two participants.

Later, in 2015, while Ye was preparing to debut the first YEEZY collection during New York Fashion Week in February, several staff members filed complaints to adidas’ higher-ups regarding Ye’s “abusive and sexually crude comments.” Despite this, adidas’ renegotiation documents with Ye for the following year cited the “biggest issue” as “putting CASH in Kanye’s pocket to show him we VALUE him.”

Adidas

adidas signed a new contract with Ye in May of 2016, which put $15 million USD in the artist’s pocket upfront along with several million dollars in company stocks for each subsequent year. The new contract included a morals clause that stated adidas could terminate its partnership with Ye in the case that he did anything that created “disrepute, contempt, scandal” for himself or the company.

Months later, during his first tour in three years, Ye stirred controversy with a “17-minute tirade” that included praise for President-elect Donald Trump, his talking poorly of Beyoncé, his bad-mouthing of the media, tech and music businesses and his alleging that JAY-Z had plans to direct “killers” after him. He subsequently cancelled the remainder of the tour and began taking medication for bipolar disorder, though adidas did not change the nature of its partnership with the artist.

In 2018, Ye told TMZ that he believed the 400 years of slavery endured by generations of Black people sounded like a “choice.” Jon Wexler, adidas’ then global director of entertainment and influencer marketing, reportedly told employees that he was “urging” Ye to issue an apology, as he feared the comments might have a negative effect on YEEZY sales. However, adidas’ former CEO Kasper Rorsted took matters into his own hands, telling CNBC, “Kanye has helped us have a great comeback in the U.S.”

Several months later, Rorsted added, “We’re not signing up to his statements; we’re signing up to what he brings to the brand and the products he’s bringing out.”

That same year, Ye reportedly told adidas employees and associates that he “admired Hitler’s command of propaganda, viewing him as a master marketer,” per The New York Times. A manager at the company, who was Jewish, stated that the artist suggested he kiss a photo of Hitler each day “to practice unconditional love.”

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adidas’ top executives formed a text group chat, titled “Yzy hotline,” in 2019, to discuss issues within the partnership. The group continuously put out the fires of Ye’s misconduct, “rotating people on and off the front lines of dealing with the artist.” The general manager, in 2019, wrote, “We are in a code red. The first line is completely exhausted and don’t feel supported.” In response to the situation, adidas directed a human resources official to monitor the group and provided every new hire with a free membership on a meditation application.

Fast forward to 2022, and the company’s revenues were forecasted to reach $1.8 billion USD. At the same time, Ye’s grievances had expanded substantially. Following the exits of some of his closest colleagues at adidas, Ye took to social media to complain about adidas’ new CEO and the supervisory board, requested celebrities including Diddy and Swizz Beatz to instigate a boycott and ambushed LA executives with a pornographic movie.

“Our army is so prepared,” West said at the time. “This is a different level of nuclear activity that no one will recover from.”

Ye’s inappropriate conduct continued to surge: he showed a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt during his Paris Fashion Week YZY Season 9 show, shared harmful conspiracy theories about the Jewish community, and strongly insisted that George Floyd was not killed by the police.

On an episode of the Drink Champs podcast on October 16 of last year, he said, “I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” The company finally terminated its partnership with the artist nine days afterward, stating, “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”