German sporting goods maker Adidas announced on Tuesday an immediate end to its partnership with American rapper Kanye West, following a rash of offensive behavior and antisemitic comments from the performer and designer in recent weeks.
"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," the company wrote in a statement. [West]'s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."
Adidas on October 6 said it was reviewing its business partnership with the rapper and fashion designer.
The following weekend, the rapper had his Twitter and Instagram accounts restricted, with the social media platforms saying they removed his posts that online users condemned as antisemitic.
West, who has been working with Adidas since 2013, had been publicly critical of Adidas and its CEO, adding that the sporting goods maker was copying his ideas, CNBC had earlier reporte
In September, West terminated his partnership with apparel retailer Gap Inc. West recently agreed to buy Parler, the social media platform popular among US conservatives.
West's recent antisemitic comments
West has made several antisemitic comments on social media, including his now-deleted tweet saying, "I'm a bit sleeping [sic] tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 on Jewish people." He also warned Jews about toying with him and claiming that "Jewish Zionists" are controlling the media.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt sent a letter to Adidas expressing concern over the company's plans to continue releasing products by West and calling on the company to "reconsider" following West's increasingly antisemitic comments.
Following the ADL's call for Adidas to drop him, West explicitly said that he can "say antisemitic s*** and Adidas cannot drop me."
Other companies have already ended their partnerships with West, including his talent agency, Creative Arts Agency (CAA), fashion house Balenciaga and global fashion icon Anna Wintour.
These decisions were made after intense pressure from both Jewish and non-Jewish activists, calling for the companies to end their partnerships with West, following his recent antisemitic comments, JPOST reports.
