Kanye West no longer a billionaire after Adidas officially ends partnership
German company Adidas has cut its ties with Kanye West. The company will now stop paying the rapper and making any Yeezy products due to his anti-semitic antics and the recent white supremacist controversies he was involved in. With significant lost earnings, Kanye will no longer be a billionaire.
After earning worldwide scrutiny, Kanye, also known as Ye, is no longer in partnership with Adidas. Recently, the company received calls to end its collaboration with the rapper. On Tuesday, the German sports brand decided and terminate whatever relationship it had with Kanye West.
Adidas said that the rapper’s recent behaviors and actions had been “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” The company also said this decision would significantly affect its earnings this year, costing them 250 million euros.
Aftermath of Kanye West’s antisemitic comments:
Adidas cut ties
Balenciaga cut ties
Vogue and Anna Wintour cut ties
Dropped by talent agency, CAA
Dropped by lawyer
Streams, sales & airplay plummeted
Restricted from Instagram & Twitter
Stadium shows cancelled
Documentary shelved pic.twitter.com/D1UiaAG3e9— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 25, 2022
The company’s partnership with Ye brought in almost $1.7 billion in 2020. Moreover, their contract was supposed to end in 2026. Alongside this early termination is Adidas’s massive loss of revenue, Particularly now that its sales were slow as the stock continues to pile up in the warehouse due to low consumer demands.
Kanye West’s net worth slopes down
Furthermore, both sides of the party are taking a blow. According to Forbes, Kanye West’s worth is now down to $400 million. It’s a huge drop from $2 billion on Forbes’ billionaires’ list.
West started to work with Adidas in 2015. It was a partnership that made him reach his billionaire status level. In addition, he first dealt with Nike for years, launching Air Yeezy in 2009. But it was Adidas who gave Wemassiveuge success for his shoe line.
BREAKING: Adidas is reportedly set to cut ties with Kanye West as early as today‼️😳 pic.twitter.com/011jjkixcv
— RapTV (@Rap) October 25, 2022
Ending their almost decade-long partnership would be a massive change for both parties. Some are even wondering what would be next for Kanye West. Although he has been one of the most influential personalities, he has been unreliable with misbehaviors recently.
Kanye West’s former talent agency, CAA, no longer works with him, including his record company Def Jam. His contract expired last year.
Misbehaviors
In a statement, the German company said, “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, violating the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Why did Adidas finally end its partnership with Kanye West?
1) Rising public pressure
2) Falling stock price— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) October 25, 2022
Kanye West has reached his limits these past few months of unacceptable behaviors. The most recent ones include his antics at his Yeezy Paris Fashion Week show, where he and his models wore a t-shirt saying “White Lives Matter.” Furthermore, he added fuel to the fire by commenting on Twitter that he would go “death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Instagram and Twitter were quick to take action by restricting his accounts. In addition, he also lost some of his endorsements, including Balenciaga. Talent company Endeavor also called their fellow companies to stop working with West. Vogue magazine also said it would no longer work with the rapper.
While the future is hazy for the Yeezy brand, Kanye West still owns the trademark. But Adidas also confirmed that it possesses all the design rights to the existing items during their partnership. It will include old and new colorways coming from their collaboration.
