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Kanye West's racist, anti-Semitic rants put Adidas in hot seat to cut ties
Adidas is facing increased pressure from people online to cut ties with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after he made a string of antisemitic comments.
Social media users began calling out the German athletic brand after an antisemitic hate group hung a banner over a Los Angeles freeway Saturday that read "Kanye is right about the Jews." Local politicians, social media users and other celebrities denounced the incident.
Adidas, which began its partnership with Ye in 2013, began trending on Twitter on Monday. Representatives for both the company and Ye did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Others in the fashion and entertainment industries have distanced themselves from Ye following his remarks.
The luxury fashion house Balenciaga severed ties with him Friday. The prominent talent agency CAA dropped him as a client, they said in a statement Monday. A recent completed documentary about Ye, made by the Hollywood financier and producer MRC, was also shelved.
Adidas said this month that it is reassessing its partnership with Ye after he donned a “White Lives Matter” shirt during Paris Fashion Week.
“After repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation, we have taken the decision to place the partnership under review,” Adidas said in a statement. “We will continue to co-manage the current product during this period.”
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Many social media users who are calling out Adidas specifically pointed to a clip of Ye addressing his partnership with the brand.
“The thing about it being Adidas,” he says in the video, which has been widely recirculated online. “...I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”
A Twitter user wrote, "It really is incredible that Kanye West could say, 'I can say anti-Semitic things and @adidas can’t drop me,' and Adidas chooses to do exactly that. Their silence says it all."
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"Morning @adidas, this isn’t all that hard or complicated and your continued silence speaks volumes," wrote actor Josh Charles.
"This is not a good person," actor Josh Gad wrote on Twitter in a response to the clip. "This is a person who's dangerous rhetoric continues to go unchecked. Hey @adidas, is this right? Can he single out a single faith and group of people with hatred and vitriol and it doesn't matter? Asking for a friend."
Source: nbcnews
