Adidas Execs Speak Out on Buying Yeezy Name from Kanye West in 2018

• According to the WSJ Adidas has been concerned for years about Kanye West and his relationship with staff.
• According to the report the executives suggested selling the Yeezy trademark or spinning it off.
• Staff reported to the WSJ Ye made antisemitic remarks and watched pornography at his workplace.

Since at least 2018, concerns have grown about Kanye’s behavior towards Adidas staff. Executives suggested spinning off the Yeezy trademark or buying it outright. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

According to former and current staff, Adidas employees and executives raised concerns about Ye’s treatment of workers for years.

Ye sometimes reprimanded Adidas staff members in front their colleagues, made antisemitic comments and watched pornography in work, to which HR was alerted in 2018, current as well as former workers, told The Journal. 

According to former employees, they also raised concerns with management after Ye’s TMZ interview of 2018, in which he claimed that slavery was “sounding like a choice.”

Adidas executives reviewed the Yeezy partnership in detail, including Ye’s request to be the creative director. Adidas’ board was presented with the documents by The Journal, citing documents. According to The Journal, the executives cited Ye’s “direct exposure” as a risk. They also suggested rotating key staff to decrease the risk.

The Journal reported that Ye was also offered to limit Ye’s exposure to the rest company by running Yeezy separately or buying the Yeezy trademark form him to run it without him. According to The Journal: Ye licensed Adidas the trademark for a 15% cut of sales.

Insider asked Adidas and Ye to comment, but they didn’t immediately respond.

Adidas announced in October that it would be cutting ties to Ye after Ye made several “hateful, dangerous” comments. This was in response to Ye wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt and making antisemitic remarks online.

Adidas stated that it expects to lose $246 millions in profits this year, after the end of its partnership. Adidas still owns the designs of Yeezy shoes and stated earlier this month that it intends to release more Yeezys with its own branding. Ye said that he would sell Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap hoodies at $20 each once the companies have cut ties.

Adidas has ended its relationship with Ye. Former and current workers have spoken out about Ye’s interactions with them. Rolling Stone published a shocking report in which Adidas and Yeezy employees claimed that Ye had ignored their complaints about his alleged misconduct.

Ye was seen showing an explicit video with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian at a Yeezy creative meeting, a former worker told Rolling Stone.

The Journal reported similarly that employees had expressed concerns over Ye’s behavior to senior leaders and HR managers throughout the years.

Adidas stated last week that they were investigating Ye’s conduct.

Adidas spokeswoman at the time told Insider that they were still engaged in discussions with their employees regarding the events that led to the decision to end the partnership.