Adidas terminated its partnership with rapper and fashion designer Ye on Tuesday after he made a series of anti-Semitic remarks, a move that knocked the musician off the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.
Adidas put the tie-up, which has produced several hot-selling Yeezy branded sneakers, under review this month.
“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the German company said on Tuesday.
“Ye’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,” it added.
Forbes magazine said the end of the deal meant Ye’s net worth shrank to US$400 million (S$566 million). The magazine had valued his share of the Adidas partnership at US$1.5 billion.
The remainder of Ye’s wealth comes from real estate, cash, his music catalogue and a 5 per cent stake in reality television star and ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s shapewear firm, Skims, Forbes said.
For Adidas, ending the partnership and the production of Yeezy branded products, as well as stopping all payments to Ye and his companies, will have a “short-term negative impact” of up to €250 million (S$352 million) on net income this year, the company said.
Ye, 45, has courted controversy in recent months by publicly ending major corporate tie-ups and making outbursts on social media against other celebrities.
His Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, with the social media platforms removing some of his online posts that users condemned as anti-Semitic.
In now-deleted Instagram posts earlier this year, the multiple Grammy Award-winning artiste accused Adidas and American apparel retailer Gap of failing to build contractually promised permanent stores for products from his Yeezy fashion line.
He also accused Adidas of stealing his designs for its own products.
On Tuesday, Gap, which had ended its partnership with Ye in September, said it was taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap products from its stores and that it had shut down YeezyGap.com.
“Anti-Semitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values,” Gap said in a statement.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES