Kanye West‘s termination from adidas has reportedly left the sportswear giant in a bit of a bind and stuck with a massive overstock of Yeezy sneakers.
According to the Financial Times, adidas is frantically trying to figure out how to shift $530 million worth of the rapper and producer’s once hugely popular shoe.
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Back in October, the company announced it would be ending its lucrative partnership with Kanye West — now legally known as Ye — citing his numerous antisemitic remarks and hate speech-filled rants.
“adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement. “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.
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“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.”
However, adidas revealed in November that it would still sell the Yeezy line, but as part of its own brand. The Financial Times claims this is to avoid taking more financial hits.
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It was reported at the time of Ye’s unceremonious departure from adidas that the German sports giant was expected to take around a $250 million loss for the rest of 2022 after parting ways with the College Dropout star.
At the end of this year alone, Yeezys made up an estimated $1.8 billion in annual revenue for adidas, or 7 percent of its totals, per the Financial Times. The London-Based newspaper reported that fears of heavy-reliance on Yeezy sneakers have circulated for years among employees.
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Meanwhile, several former Yeezy, adidas and Gap collaborators have described the working conditions within Kanye’s company as “a chaotic clusterfuck and a toxic and ‘abusive’ work environment.”
According to a Rolling Stone report in November, they were all under the assumption that working for the Grammy Award-winner would be a “dream job,” but were surprised when it was far from the truth.
Sources said the “abrupt firings and rolling layoffs, intimidation and humiliation tactics, and a cult-like atmosphere where sycophancy thrived,” were central to the company.
It was also recently reported that Kanye’s Yeezy headquarters in Los Angeles is facing eviction from its office after missing two months of rent totalling $63,254. The landlord requested Ye pay the tab in full within 72 hours of the notice or face eviction.
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Ye first leased the 15,000 square feet of office space in 2015 when Yeezy was known as West Brands Fashion. At the lease signing, Yeezy originally agreed to pay $31,477.40 per month and did so in full before missing the last two payments for November and December.
