Kanye and Adidas have reportedly reached a deal according to multiple sources. Ye who had a tumultuous relationship with the sports brand from the early days of their partnership publicly aired out Adidas for unfair dealings which resulted in the brand ultimately severing ties with him.
A move which has proven to be more detrimental to the sports brand than initially reported.
The new deal reportedly only include: “No new Yeezy branded designs – Only selling current Yeezy branded products that Adidas cannot sell without Ye” addtionally, “No update on future after these are sold and Pirate Blacks will be one of the first releases.”
Adidas issued a 4th profit warning two weeks ago (February 10, 2023) indicating that it could face an operating loss of up to €700 million this year due to the company‘s ill–fated partnership with Kanye West that left it with hundreds of millions in unsold Yeezy shoes.
The German sportswear maker‘s new CEO, Bjørn Gulden, has said that it will take time to “put the pieces back together“ and that the company needs to “improve our product engine, better serve our distribution and assure that Adidas is a great and fun place to work“.
The sportswear maker has forecast a 1% rise in sales for 2022 and a two–thirds (€669mn) decrease in operating profit. Shares in Adidas have fallen as much as10% in early trading following the announcement.
Bloomberg reported Yeezy accounted for 40% of Adidas profits which was enough to mask the other unprofitable side f the business.
“Yeezy was a huge win for Adidas who Ye chastised for rolling off his designs and putting them on other shoes without the Yeezy approval. The styles copied from the rapper and social media star helped the company to become a leader in footwear and gear for sports such as soccer—to attract a young, hip international clientele that relate to Ye and the culture of Hip Hop and taste making he represents,”
according to Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley analyst Edouard Aubin estimates that the Yeezy line has been generating €1.8 billion ($1.8 billion) in annual sales, about 8% of Adidas’s total revenue and more than 40% of the company’s profits.
On Oct. 25, 2022 Adidas released a statement denouncing comments made by Ye on Drink Champs with Nore and DJ Efn as “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous,” after Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel urged all of Ye’s partners to send a stop message in an opinion piece in the Financial Times. Adding that they violated the company’s values of “diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” Beyond that, Adidas has stayed silent, saying it will fill in more details of the Yeezy breakup and future of the partnership’s shoe designs when it delivers quarterly earnings on next Wednesday (Nov. 9).
Emanuel says Ye (formerly Kanye West) should not have business partners and corporation’s “silence is not enough.”
“It’s not enough for Twitter to lock the rapper Kanye West out of his accounts following his anti-Semitic tweet that he was going to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” West’s business partners across the fashion and entertainment industries also need to speak out and take action.”
Ari, real name Ariel Zev Emanuel’s company is the entertainment and media agency that owns the UFC and represent high profile athletes like Lebron James. He was criticized for not commenting on UFC CEO Dana White’s fight with his wife recently.
He also suggested that streaming platforms should also take some action against the “Wait Till I Get My Money Right” rapper to send a strong message.
“Apple and Spotify, which host West’s music, whoever organises West’s tours, and Adidas, which collaborates with West on his fashion line, should all stop working with him. The parent company of Parler, the Twitter competitor, should refuse to sell to West,” he continued in the strongly worded letter in the Financial Times dated Wednesday October 19, 2022.
Ari, who is an accused racist embroiled and linked to Jeffery Epstein cited Ye’s global dominance in culture and his influence on young people as one reason he should be censored. “West is not just any person — he is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world. And among them are young people whose views are still being formed,” the Chicago born Jewish executive wrote.
An April 2002 lawsuit by agent Sandra Epstein against Endeavor Agency brought forth accusations by Epstein and other Endeavor employees against Emanuel. In the court filings, Emanuel is alleged to have allowed a friend to operate a pornographic website out of Endeavor’s offices. According to Epstein, Emanuel made racist and anti-gay remarks and prevented her from sending a script about Navy SEALs to actor Wesley Snipes, saying: “That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Everyone knows that blacks don’t swim.” Emanuel disputed these accusations at the time. Epstein’s claims were settled for $2.25 million according to the New York Times.
Meanwhile, as Ari is chastising West(Now Ye), he gave film actor Mel Gibson a pass in for the 2006 rants and says he has since recommended Mel for work only after he gave a public apology.
“In 2006, Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic rant after being pulled over for driving while drunk in Malibu, California. I immediately called on the entertainment industry to refuse to continue working with Gibson. Yes, several years later, I recommended him for roles. But that was only after Gibson’s public apology and his commitment to understanding the consequences of his actions.”
LeBron James who Endeavor represents and his producers pulled the plug on the Kanye West episode of the series The Shop: Uninterrupted because they said he perpetuated hate speech and stereotypes during filming. Maverick Carter, whose production company with James, SpringHill Company, produces The Shop, told Andscape, “After talking to Kanye directly the day before we taped, I believed he was capable of a respectful discussion and he was ready to address all his recent comments. Unfortunately, he used The Shop to reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.”
Ye, formerly Kanye West was the most streamed living U.S. based artist in all of Africa for 2022 according to MRC Data’s global music report obtained by WMVon Wednesday January 11.
The report spotlights Africa as an emerging music market and examines how artists from the region are performing elsewhere.
Leading the most streamed international artists in Africa 2022 list from the U.S., is deceased rapper Juice World, followed by West, Kodak Black, Pop Smoke and Roddy Rich.
From the U.K., Adele is the most streamed in African, followed by Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. While from France, Booba is out front followed by Dadju, David Guetta, Niska and Tayc.
