The Ye and Adidas relationship is 100% over. According to Reuters, Adidas reached an out-of-court settlement with the rapper to end all agreements. No money was paid to either party.
The relationship between Ye and Adidas went south after a run of antisemitic comments from the iconic Chicago rapper.
“There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no… money going either way, and we both move on,” CEO Bjorn Gulden said on a call. “There were tensions on many issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims.”
Earlier this year, after the brand announced a new stock drop at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message stating he had been sued.
“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.
“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”
Kanye says Adidas is suing him for 250M while selling Yeezy’s with his name on it without paying him. Other celebrities need to speak out and bring attention to this because it could be them too one day pic.twitter.com/wxBBbiSHHA
— Ye Streams (@kanyestreams1) February 26, 2024
According to Complex, Adidas announced the remaining Yeezy stock release on Feb. 29. The “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 was available for $230 through the Confirmed app, Adidas app, or Adidas.com.
adidas will release the remaining YEEZY inventory, which features products from 2022, in the course of the year.
The range available will include some of the most popular designs beginning with the YEEZY BOOST 350 V2 in STEEL GREY. pic.twitter.com/zMRVRT1aYx
— adidas alerts (@adidasalerts) February 26, 2024
Adidas also teased additional sneakers, showing an image with silhouettes of the Yeezy Foam Runner, the Yeezy 500, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, and the Yeezy Slides.
Meanwhile, Kanye West delivered a message to fans to not buy them. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys [.] I never made these color ways [.] I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me.”
You can see his full statement below.
KANYE WEST Responds After ADIDAS Continue To Sell Off The Rest Of Their YEEZY Sneakers 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ut1NmmmUii
— HypeNeverDies (@HypeNeverDies) February 26, 2024
In Sept. 2023, Ye received words of support from Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. In an interview, Gulden stated he doesn’t believe Kanye West is a bad person.
“And then as creative people he did some statements which wasn’t that good,” Gulden said. “And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person it just came across that way.
“That meant we lost that business. One of the most successful collabs in history — very said. But again, when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game.”
New Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden about Ye :
“Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world. I don’t think he’s a bad person, it just came across that way.” pic.twitter.com/8k1JvHkyJl
— Donda Times (@dondatimes) September 19, 2023
Adidas reports a revenue of $437 million in the first release of leftover Yeezy sneakers from their nixed deal with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The first run of shoes hit online in June, selling out. The second run began to sell on Wednesday.
The sale of the sneakers was the efforts to empty their inventory responsibly. After the first launch, CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,”
Adidas has also announced the donation of over 10 million euros to groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
According to Billboard, 20% to 25% of the stock was unloaded in the first sale.
