Adidas is once again putting Yeezy sneakers up for sale through its digital platforms — unloading the remainder of its inventory after the company cut ties with rapper Kanye West over his antisemitic remarks.
This is the third time that the German-based apparel giant has sold Yeezy shoes since the dissolution of its partnership with the rapper known as “Ye,” who took to social media and went on antisemitic rants, resulting in the termination of his business collaborations with brands such as Gap, Balenciaga and JPMorgan Chase.
Adidas has accompanied the sales with donations to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
3
The company announced on its web site that it would offer up the “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 for $230 a pair on its “Confirmed” app as well as through the Adidas app and adidas.com beginning on Thursday.
Adidas ended its partnership with Ye in October 2022 — leaving the company with more than $1 billion million worth of Yeezy shoes in unsold inventory.
Last May, Adidas paused the sale of Yeezys out of fear of a backlash that it was making money off of its association with Ye.
Last year Adidas earned $813 million in revenue from two Yeezy releases, down from $1.3 billion in 2022.
In late January, Adidas said it expects operating profit to nearly double to about $542.3 million this year after the company’s break-up with Ye and the discontinuation of the Yeezy business.
The company said a better-than-expected fourth quarter was helped by a decision not to write off most of its Yeezy inventory for $325 million. It will instead sell the remaining products at cost.
In December, Ye unveiled the first Yeezy shoe produced since Adidas cut ties.
The announcement coincided with another report from news site TMZ which showed Ye go on a 10-minute rant in Las Vegas during which he just “lost it” — lashing out at Jews yet again.
In the rant, he made insinuations about Jewish influence and compared himself to Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler.
3
On Dec. 26, Ye issued an apology in Hebrew to the Jewish community.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions,” Ye wrote.
“It was not my intention to offend or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.”
Ye once suggested slavery was a choice and called the coronavirus vaccine “the mark of the beast.”
In October 2022, he was criticized for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at his Paris Fashion Week show and tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the US defense readiness condition scale, DEFCON.
3
Later that month, the Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with Ye and he lost the lucrative partnership with Adidas that helped catapult him to billionaire status over his remarks.
He was also dropped by talent agency CAA, and his documentary with MRC Entertainment was scrapped. He was locked out of his accounts on Instagram and what was then known as Twitter, though he has since returned to both platforms.
In September of last year, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden, who took over as chief executive after the company severed ties with Ye, sparked controversy when he said he doubts that Ye “meant what he said” when he made a series of antisemitic and other offensive remarks last year.
Gulden later apologized for the comment.
With Post Wires
