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Among those was the ongoing Yeezy fallout. Adidas was left with an estimated $1.3 billion worth of Ye’s trademark sneakers in its inventory after it severed its partnership with him last fall, when the Grammy-winning musician made repeated statements attacking Jews and praising Nazis.
“This is before my time,” Gulden told Tangen. “I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and what I’d call street culture. … And then, as creative people, you know, he did some statements that wasn’t that good and that caused Adi[das] to break the contract and withdraw the product.”
This was “unfortunate,” the CEO continued. “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 and that meant we lost that business, one of the most successful collaborations in the history. Very sad. But when you work with third parties it can happen, and it’s part of the game.”
Yeezy shoes used to earn Adidas an estimated $2 billion a year, according to Morningstar analyst David Swartz. The line accounted for $1.5 billion of Ye’s net worth, Forbes estimated.
Adidas was one of the last major brands to cut ties with Ye after he wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at an October Paris Fashion Week show and began to make increasingly virulent statements about Jews.
The brand announced last October that it would immediately “end production of Yeezy-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.” Several weeks later, Ye appeared on right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s show and praised Hitler.
Ye is one of several high-profile people who have made disparaging comments about Jews in recent months. The Anti-Defamation League says that last year marked the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the United States in the Jewish human rights group’s records. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, has accused the ADL of “trying to kill” the social media platform he owns, X, formerly Twitter. And former president Donald Trump was once again accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric this week, when he shared a message on social media accusing “liberal Jews” who voted against him of trying to destroy the United States and Israel.
Adidas faced criticism earlier this year when it started selling its remaining Yeezy inventory — releasing batches in May and July. In the first round, the brand made $437 million in sales, donated more than $10 million to groups fighting antisemitism and pledged an additional donation of a little more than $100 million in the future, the company’s chief financial officer said in a sales call afterward.
“Our position has not changed,” Adidas said in a statement responding to its CEO’s comments about Ye. “Ending the partnership was appropriate.”
Rachel Tashjian, Jaclyn Peiser and Jacob Bogage contributed to this report, which has been updated.
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