Adidas tolerated misconduct and allegedly abusive behavior from Kanye West for several years before cutting ties with the designer and rapper, according to an Oct. 27 investigative report from The New York Times.
The famous sports brand severed its relationship with West in October 2022 after he issued a slew of antisemitic social media posts the same year, but The New York Times (NYT) is now reporting a break in the business relationship was a long time coming. The outlet gave a scathing recount of troubling behavior Adidas allegedly tolerated for the sake of its business agreement with West, until it purportedly became too much for staff at the German sportswear company to bear.
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Adidas put up with West’s misconduct for nearly a decade, the NYT reported. The outlet interviewed current and past employees of Adidas and West, as well as reviewed internal records such as contracts, memos, text messages and financial documents, over the course of its investigation.
In one particular incident that took place in 2013, West reportedly met with executives in the company’s German headquarters so they could show him some of their suggested shoe designs. West was allegedly unhappy with the designs he was shown, and subsequently took one of the shoe sketches and drew a swastika on the toe, according to the NYT. His German group members were reportedly appalled. The alleged swastika incident transpired at the very beginning of West’s business relationship with Adidas and proved to be an indicator of things to come, the NYT reported.
In another instance, West allegedly made Adidas executives watch pornography during a business meeting at his apartment in New York City, purportedly to inspire creativity, according to the NYT. (RELATED: Kanye West’s Donda Academy Shuts Down Amid Anti-Semitic Comments)
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“As Adidas grew more reliant on Yeezy sales, so did Mr. West,” the NYT report reads. “In addition to royalties and upfront cash, the company eventually agreed to another enticement: $100 million annually, officially for Yeezy marketing but, in practice, a fund that he could spend with little oversight.”
“He could be enthusiastic to the point of creating chaos,” according to the outlet. “Once immersed in the design work, he so obsessed over every detail that it was hard to finish anything.”
Staff members alleged West had been sexually offensive towards them at New York Fashion Week in 2015, the NYT reported, and he allegedly made antisemitic and offensive comments regularly. West’s behavior included wild outbursts that became difficult to overlook, according to the outlet.
West declined to interview with the NYT and did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
The company’s apparent desire to continue generating profits through its relationship with West was the motivating factor for keeping him on board, the NYT found. “Kanye has helped us have a great comeback in the U.S.,” former Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted previously said. “We’re not signing up to his statements; we’re signing up to what he brings to the brand and the products he’s bringing out.”
But eventually, the company’s patience wore thin and they severed their relationship with the artist.
“Our decision to end our partnership with Ye because of his unacceptable comments and behavior was the right one,” Adidas said in a statement, according to the outlet. “Our stance has not changed.”