YEEZY
Adidas has reached a settlement with Ye (formerly Kanye West) to resolve all outstanding legal claims stemming from the company’s decision to end its partnership with the rapper and his Yeezy brand.
The deal, announced by CEO Bjorn Gulden during a quarterly earnings call and first reported by Bloomberg, came roughly two years after Adidas announced it would terminate its years-long brand deal with Ye in the wake of his antisemitic statements and other erratic behavior.
“Both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” Gulden said on the call, adding that neither side would pay the other as part of the settlement. “No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.”
Trending on Billboard
It’s unclear exactly what legal disputes were ongoing when the deal was reached. The two sides were engaged in private arbitration over the split last year, but the status of that case is unknown. A rep for Ye did not immediately return a request for comment on Adidas’s announcement.
Adidas, which operated a lucrative sneaker collaboration with West for nearly a decade, was one of many companies to terminate its relationship with the rapper in the fall of 2022 after a string of bizarre statements and actions, like unveiling a “White Lives Matter” shirt at Paris Fashion Week and claiming he was going “death con 3 on Jewish people.”
It was a messy breakup for Adidas. The split left the company holding $1.3 billion worth of unsold Yeezys and no easy option to unload them, contributing to a loss of $655 million in sales for the last three months of 2022.
Days after Adidas announced the split with West, court records show that the company demanded Yeezy return $75 million that had allegedly been deposited into its accounts. When Yeezy refused, Adidas secretly filed a case in federal court, seeking an order to immediately freeze those funds. A judge initially granted that motion, but then later unfroze the funds.
In the course of that litigation, both sides revealed that they were also engaged in a private arbitration case over the termination of the partnership. The exact parameters of the dispute were kept secret, but Adidas argued in public court documents that Ye’s “racist, antisemitic, and other offensive public statements and conduct” had caused “considerable damage to its brand” and led to the breakdown of the partnership.
“Adidas has multiple causes of action against Yeezy, resulting from Ye’s highly public and offensive conduct described above, which violated the terms of the agreement and justified adidas’s termination of that contract,” the company argued. “Those broader causes of action, as well as the dispute over [issues], will be resolved through arbitration.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Brad Barket / Getty / Steven Smith / Kanye West
If Kanye West hopes to continue dropping hot footwear, he will be doing so without his longtime collaborator and YZY designer Steven Smith.
Steven Smith is letting the chopper spray on his former boss, Kanye West after the embattled multihyphenate fired him. Speaking with Fast Company, Smith says, “He’s lost his mind. The whole of Yeezy is circling the drain, and this is just part of it. He has surrounded himself with toxic, C-grade losers.”
Ouch.
Smith’s comments are damming because he was described by the website as a “sensitive defender of Ye and, in particular, the treatment of his mental health.”
Now, not so much.
West gave Smith the boot in August and showed how petty he was by blocking Smith on Instagram. Smith has worked with the problematic rapper since 2016 and was one of the instrumental figures in the company’s success following the deal with adidas, which has since been terminated.
Despite losing his gig with YZY, Smith remains optimistic about his future, saying on the website, “I’m in a very happy place with it all. I will certainly be a priceless asset to whoever I work with next. It’s all his loss and the result of his foolishness.”
Smith did reveal the reasoning for his termination, but, according to Fast Company, “reached a breaking point” afterword on the street said the “saved” rapper wanted to launch his own porn company but scrapped the idea.
Bruh.
Other Wild Allegations
Smith is just the latest former high-profile employee to drop some serious but wild allegations against the “Monster” crafter.
West’s former chief of staff and far-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos claimed in an affidavit that the Chicago rapper is addicted to nitrous oxide thanks to celebrity dentist Thomas Connelly, who got Ye hooked on the poisonous gas.
According to Yiannopoulos, West spends up to $50,000 per month on nitrous oxide and underwent scans proving that he has suffered permanent brain damage from his abuse of the poisonous gas.
Connelly has denied the allegations, but in a video he sent to troubled boxer Robert Garcia, he can be seen using an oxygen mask, so he’s making it hard to beat the allegations.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, aligned himself with conservative British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos and named him the chief of staff for the Yeezy brand. According to the resignation letter penned by Milo Yiannopoulos, one of the factors leading to his leaving the company is the formation of the Yeezy Porn brand.
TMZ reports that Milo Yiannopoulos, 39, spoke exclusively with the outlet and confirmed that he is no longer affiliated with Ye or the Yeezy brand.
“I wish Ye every success in the future. I have some concerns about his new team, and hope he proceeds with caution,” Yiannopoulos said to TMZ.
Yiannopoulos shared his resignation letter with the outlet, citing that the creation of the Yeezy Porn defies his personal stances and recovery, stating that the introduction of the company would be “an imminent danger to my life as a recovering addict and an unacceptable risk to my spiritual and physical health as a former homosexual.”
Yiannopoulos did say that if Ye decides to move beyond his porn plans that he’d be open to returning to work with the company. It isn’t known how far along the Chicago producer and businessman is into his prospective venture but he has mentioned in interviews that he once struggled with an addiction to pornography.
—
Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) has deleted his X account seemingly after receiving a wave of backlash for announcing a new adult content website. On Wednesday (April 24), the rapper tweeted a six second video with the phrase “Yeezy Porn Is Cumming,” directing viewers to “go to yeezy.com.” According to TMZ, Ye is […]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Jonathan Leibson / Getty
adidas announced that they would be donating millions of dollars from the sales of their remaining Yeezy shoes to anti-hate groups.
On Wednesday (March 13), the German sportswear giant adidas announced that they were planning to, and in some cases, already donated $150 million to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate from the sales of their remaining stock of Yeezy shoes. The company had an estimated $1.3 billion worth of sneakers created from its partnership with Ye aka Kanye West in their warehouses.
The company began to sell its remaining stock in batches after severing ties with West in October 2022 after his tirade of antisemitic and other hateful comments on social media and in interviews. After the dissolution, adidas sold off Yeezy shoes in two batch releases in 2023 and launched another release sale on Feb. 26 of this year. Part of the proceeds that have been donated have gone to such groups as the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd (who was the subject of one of Kanye West’s rants) as well as the Anti-Defamation League.
adidas reported that the sales helped stabilize their operating profits at $283 million last year – it still wound up leaving the company facing a deficit of 60% in comparison to 2022. “Although by far not good enough, 2023 ended better than what I had expected at the beginning of the year,” said adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, the former footballer who took over the position at the beginning of 2023 and advocated for the move to sell the Yeezys and donate part of the proceeds. The company expects to improve about 10% in growth over the second half of 2024 with more emphasis on other shoes and a boost from the Olympic Games this summer in Paris, according to its earnings report.
Ye isn’t too happy with adidas’ sales of his Yeezys. As the new batch release sale began in February with the “Steel Grey” 350 V2 version, he voiced his displeasure in the caption of a now-deleted Instagram post. “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,” he wrote, adding: “All the new non-approved 350’s are cooorny and everybody know the 350 been corny.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: @kanyewest / Instagram
It seems Kanye West’s business strategy continues to evolve. He says Vultures 2 will not be available for streaming but sold on his website.
As reported by Hypebeast, the sequel to the Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative project will have a more independent roll out compared to its predecessor. Last week, the rapper engaged with a fan account on Instagram and explained that he has reevaluated how he sells his art. “Was talking with the team about how to release the next album. Like James Blake said streaming devalues our music” Kanye explained. “We sell albums on Yeezy.com. I got 20 million Instagram followers. When 5% of my followers buy an album. That’s 1 million albums sold. That’s 300k more than the biggest album last year. We sold 1 million items on Yeezy.com on Super Bowl Sunday so we know it’s possible. How do you feel about us not streaming and only selling the album digitally.”
In a separate screenshot Kanye went on to add, “It would be nice for our community to support the albums, Streaming is pirating.” Since cutting ties with adidas, Kanye West has embraced a direct to consumer model specifically for his Yeezy apparel line. As referenced earlier, his brand sold over 1 million combined units of the polarizing Yeezy Pod sock shoe, a pant, t-shirt and a top. All the pieces sold at a $20 dollar price point prompting fans to believe Vultures 2 will also be sold for $20.
Vultures 2 was originally scheduled for March 8.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Stuart Mostyn / Getty
Dame Dash might have just cracked the code on Kanye West’s unique fashion sense, He says Yeezy is on a troll assignment.
HipHopDX is reporting that the serial entrepreneur was the latest guest on Willie D’s podcast. The Harlem, New York native discussed a variety of topics ranging from Lyor Cohen to his newest business ventures. When asked about his former recording artist he reasoned that Kanye’s behavior in recent years should not be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the MC’s history.
“He’s a person that pulls triggers,” Dame Dash explained. “Look at his career. [He said] ‘George Bush doesn’t like Black people,’ ran up on Taylor Swift. It’s one publicity stunt after another. That’s his model is triggering you. Just like Trump – every time Trump says something racist and we hate it, somebody loves it. He’s not talking for us. He’s talking for the ones that love it, Trump. So it’s the same thing.”
Dame went on further urge every one not to blink when it comes to Kanye’s at times bizarre modus operandi. “That’s why I don’t pay him no mind. He’s a troll. He got everybody dressing like a crackhead, bro. He’s doing this sh*t on purpose” he said. “I know what you’re doing, you’re trolling. He walk around barefoot, he’s trolling. ‘Watch this I can get dudes to wear tights and barefoot!’ I’m not saying we had that convo. When I see it I’m like, ‘Yo, he bugging,’ but I know he’s playing. You know? He wants you to get at him. Why would he do the things he does if he doesn’t want the reaction?”
You can watch the Dame Dash Willie D Live interview below.
[embedded content]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Yeezy / YEEZY
It seems that YEEZY season is approaching. The brand has unveiled its first product offering since parting ways with adidas.
XXL is reporting that the house that Kanye West built is back. On Thursday (Dec. 14), the “Otis” rapper took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce that his polarizing sock shoe will be going on preorder. According to the post, the YZY POD is described as the “foldable future of footwear.” The screenshot billed it as “Our first product since liberation from Adidas goes on presale today, $200 at yeezy.com. Accept no imitations.”
The one piece goes all the way to the calf, and it seems to take the sock sneaker to full sock with your typical sneaker support on the outsole.
Even though this is the shoe’s formal debut, the YZY POD has been spotted on foot for some time. The rapper has been sporting the infamous slip-on, or just socks with no shoes, most of 2023 to both the dismay and support of his core fanbase. The YZY POD is available in three sizes in a black colorway. You can register for the presale here. At this time, it is unclear when it will be released.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Peter Dazeley / Getty
Whether you’re copping or boycotting, the adidas Yeezy restocks have been a massive success for the three-stripe brand as they’ve been moving inventory like hotcakes. But when Foot Locker was offered the chance to partake in the sales bonanza, they passed.
According to Complex, the higher ups at Foot Locker wanted no parts of the Yeezy restock happening over the last few weeks for fear of backlash from people who called out adidas for continuing to do business with Kanye West after his antisemitic rants. While there really hasn’t been outcry over the restock due to adidas promising to donate some of the profits to anti-hate charities, Foot Locker wasn’t taking any chances in today’s cancel culture climate and turned down the opportunity to rake in some big money.
Complex reports:
Sneaker industry sources tell Complex that Foot Locker had originally planned to take on stock of Yeezys but later decided against it. Foot Locker, the sources say, was afraid of the backlash that selling shoes associated with West, who now goes by Ye, could generate. The retailer also ran into difficulties trying to integrate a charity aspect into its sale of Yeezys, sources said.
Foot Locker did not respond to multiple requests for comment and Adidas did not provide a comment.
Even when word spread that adidas was planning on selling off its remaining inventory, there wasn’t much backlash, if any, following the announcement. We’re lowkey surprised that Foot Locker was too scared to carry the merchandise, but it is what it is.
The news comes on the heels of adidas confirming that once they’re done selling off their remaining inventory of Yeezy merchandise, they’ll never restock or sell any Yeezy silhouette again. With that being said, you know sneakerheads and collectors will be gobbling up any remaining Yeezy drops that adidas has going forward. The proof is in the pudding as adidas has bagged hundreds of millions of dollars with their Yeezy restocks.
Still, Foot Locker is standing by the statement they released last year at the height of the controversy and isn’t interested in generating any kind of backlash regardless of the amount of money that’s on the table.
More from Complex:
“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of antisemitism, or hateful and discriminatory behavior,” a spokesperson said then. “While we remain a partner with Adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections, we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops, and we have instructed our retail operators to pull any existing product from our shelves and digital sites.”
What do y’all think? Sound off in the comments section below.
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: adidas / adidas
adidas is sticking to their word after parting ways with Kanye West. The brand will be donating $121 million dollars from YEEZY sales to charity.
As spotted on Hype Beast the Herzogenaurach, Germany based brand is making the best out of a bad situation. Back in late 2022 Kanye West infamously went on several tirades that targeted the Jewish community. Naturally his hate speech was met with uproar causing several of his corporate partners to drop him. adidas followed suit and severed ties with the “All Of The Lights” rapper on October 25. “After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. adidas will stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect” a press release read.
Related Stories
Since the announcement adidas has put the YEEZY products on pause. According to The Financial Times the apparel company will be donating close to $121 million dollars from YEEZY sales to charities that battle anti-Semitism. “We have inherited a situation that was very unfortunate,” CEO Bjørn Gulden said in a statement. “I think the YEEZY business and the [Nike] Jordan business were the only two collabs in the world that were creating these kind of premiums over a longer period. Our task now is to limit the damage, get rid of the inventory, use the proceeds for good and lead the business without YEEZY.”
On July 28 adidas announced they would be selling the existing YEEZY inventory in August. The products will be available through adidas digital platforms including the CONFIRMED app, adidas app and adidas.com.
Photo: Yeezy
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…