Kanye West's anti-Semitic comments made Adidas decide to cut ties with him.
Adidas has cut ties with rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, saying that it does not tolerate antisemitism or any other kind of hate speech.
After Mr. West showed a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt design at Paris Fashion Week, Adidas stopped working with him on the Yeezy brand.
A few days later, the rapper wrote some hateful things about Jews on his Twitter account.
Adidas said that his products will be taken off the market right away.
The sportswear company has said before that the collaboration between the Yeezy brand and Ye was one of the most successful in its history.
By ending the partnership, Adidas will lose a total of £217 million in 2022, the company said.
Ye, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had previously said in an Instagram post that Adidas had stolen his designs.
Adidas said in a statement on Tuesday: "Adidas doesn't let people say hateful things about Jews or anyone else. Ye's recent comments and actions are unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous. They also go against the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness."
Ye's Instagram and Twitter accounts were shut down after he said things that were hurtful to Jews. David Schwimmer from "Friends" and Ye's ex-wife Kim Kardashian, who is a reality TV star and is now studying to become a lawyer, were among the celebrities who spoke out against Ye's anti-Semitic comments. Ms. Kardashian wrote on Twitter on Monday: "Hate speech is never acceptable or okay. I stand with the Jewish community and demand that the horrible violence and hateful words that are being said about them stop right away."
Business partnerships are also getting more and more difficult: Bank JP Morgan and the clothing store Gap both said in the past few months that they would no longer work with Ye.
Gap broke their agreement by, among other things, not opening stores for his Yeezy clothing line.
Gap said in a statement on Tuesday that it will stop selling Yeezy Gap products and that the YeezyGap.com website is no longer available.
"Antisemitism, racism, and hate in any form are wrong and will not be accepted. We are working with groups that fight against hate and prejudice "Gap wrote on Instagram that @yeezyxgap.
After Ye showed his "White Lives Matter" T-shirt, Adidas reviewed its relationship with him, but the company did not say that the collection was the reason for the review.
It told the BBC that it had decided to rethink the partnership after Ye said that it had "stolen" his designs and it had "tried again and again to solve the problem in private."
After George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, the phrase "Black Lives Matter" was used a lot. Since then, it has grown into a political and social movement that wants to bring attention to racism experienced by black people, especially police brutality and violence based on race.
Balenciaga, a high-end fashion brand, and Creative Artists Agency, which finds new talent, also cut ties with Ye in early October.
Monday, MRC, a company that makes movies and TV shows, said it won't show the recently finished documentary about the rapper.
"Kanye makes music and takes samples from other songs. Last week, he sampled and remixed a song that has been popular for more than 3,000 years: the lie that Jews are evil and try to control the world for their own benefit. As the leaders of this company (a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian), we feel obligated to tell everyone that this is a terrible way to use bad logic "On Monday, MRC wrote.
Ye defended his anti-Semitic tweet on the US podcast Drink Champs on October 15. He said, "Jewish people have owned the black voice, whether it's because we're all signed to a Jewish record label or have a Jewish manager," and that "the Jewish media shut me out." Drink Champs said they were sorry and took the episode down.
Aaron Donald, an American football player, and Jaylen Brown, a basketball star, have ended their contracts with Kanye West's sports marketing company, Donda Sports, because of his anti-Semitic remarks. NBA All-Star Brown said on Monday that he was going to stay with Donda, but he changed his mind the next day.
Net worth goes down
After the news, Adidas stock dropped as much as 8%, but it has since recovered some of its losses.
Adidas said in its last financial forecast, which was released in October, that a drop in business in China and a drop in consumer demand in major Western markets have made it hard to predict its profits for 2022. The brand is also looking for a new CEO. The current CEO, Kasper Rorsted, said in August that he would be leaving in 2023.
A Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesman said: "Adidas has finally cut ties with Ye, just like other brands and agencies (Kanye West). This would not have happened without the almost 175,000 people who signed our petition and the celebrities and influential people on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world who helped promote it and spread the word."
The rapper has also dropped off the list of billionaires in Forbes magazine. The magazine says that Ye's net worth has dropped from $1.5 billion to $400 million since he lost his deal with Adidas.