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Kanye West could lose his billionaire status after being dropped by Adidas amid growing backlash over his anti-Semitic rants.
The rappers’ $220million annual deal with the German sports brand, which is worth $1.5billion in total, has been terminated after his controversial behaviour.
According to Forbes, West, 45, is set to lose his billionaire status after cutting ties with the sportswear giant – and is currently worth $2billion.
The father-of-four’s wealth could plummet to below $1billion after the termination with the brand, which comes after several other lucrative deals have been dropped.
Adidas announced that they would be terminating their partnership in a statement, with the sportswear maker having put it’s deal with Ye under review.
They claim that they made repeated efforts earlier this month ‘to privately resolve the situation.’
Adidas’ share price dropped more than 50 percent over the past six months, and is expected to plunge even further in the wake of the announcement.
West has had several high-flying partnerships dropped in the aftermath of making a series of anti-Semitic outbursts.
His deal with Balenciaga and Gap have fallen through, and the rapper was yesterday dropped by talent agency CAA.
Ye has courted controversy in recent months by publicly ending major corporate tie-ups, as well as for a series of outbursts on social media against other celebrities (Kanye West pictured October 21, 2022)
German sporting goods behemoth Adidas has terminated its partnership with Kanye West amid controversial behavior from the American rapper and designer. A statement posted in the media section of its website called his comments ‘unacceptable, hateful and dangerous’
German sporting goods behemoth Adidas has ended its partnership with Kanye West amid controversial behavior from the American rapper and designer
His Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, with the social media platforms saying they removed his posts that online users condemned as anti-Semitic.
In a statement Adidas said: ‘Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.
‘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.’
The company also claimed that cutting ties with the rapper is likely to have a ‘negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022’.
The partnership began in 2013, after he let a collaboration with Nike, and was expected to be a ten-year-long production.
Before being dumped by the brand Kanye had already begun publicly sparring with Adidas executives, accusing them of ‘stealing’ his ideas.
West owns the Yeezy brand but Adidas pay him an annual royalty fee to sell the products.
Adidas, whose founder Adi Dassler belonged to the Nazi Party, found themselves coming under increasing pressure to drop Kanye after several anti-Semitic comments.
Experts have also claimed that the resale market for Yeezy’s will explode because they will not be produced in mass quantities anymore.
TMZ claimed that the resale market would skyrocket, with companies clinging onto the stock of Yeezy’s to see if Adidas would part ways with the singer.
West has faced criticism in recent weeks for his bizarre behavior, including introducing a series of shirts branded with ‘White Lives Matter’ at Paris Fashion week.
During an episode of Drink Champs podcast with N.O.R.E, West claimed that George Floyd died from taking fentanyl and that Derek Chauvin’s knee ‘wasn’t even on his neck like that.’
Floyd’s family have since lodged a $250million lawsuit against the star over the comments, calling them ‘repugnant’ and saying he used ‘false statements’ to ‘promote his brands’.
Kanye West attends the adidas show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Fall 2015
Human rights campaigners have called out the German firm for its continued silence over comments by Kanye that have made him more and more isolated
Kanye also made the incorrect claim that he is the ‘richest black man in American history’ – a title that belongs to Vista Equity’s Robert F. Smith.
He said: ‘A lot of this stuff for me as the richest black man in American history, that put $140million in JP Morgan, and never even had a chance to… not even get to deal with them. We’ll speak at a different time.’
In 2021, West was inaccurately described as the richest man in America after Bloomberg reported the valuations of his companies at $6.6billion.
Much of that figure came from sales that hadn’t yet been realized and were never an indication of his personal wealth – with Forbes estimating his net worth at around $1.8billion.
JP Morgan Chase has declined to comment on why it cut ties with the rapper.
The decision from Adidas to terminate its partnership with Kanye represents the latest blow to the rapper who has seen numerous working relationships tarnished in light of recent controversies.
It emerged yesterday that West was dropped by Camille Vasquez, the lawyer who defended Johnny Depp, as well as top talent agency CAA for recent remarks in which he tweeted he was planning to go to war with Jewish people.
A source for The New York Post claimed: ‘After Ye doubled down [on anti-Semitic comments] this weekend, Camille dropped him. The firm still wanted to make it work but on the condition he retract, he wouldn’t – so he fired them.’
The law firm has previously declined to confirm to DailyMail.com whether or not it had secured West as a client.
It was also revealed on Monday that top talent agency CAA had cut ties with Kanye, according to the LA Times. The company announced it had stopped representing him at some point over the last month, after he made the anti-Semitic remarks.
Kanye West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, with the social media platforms saying they removed his posts that online users condemned as anti-Semitic
Kanye promised to ‘go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE’ in a shocking tweet earlier this month
Kanye West has been dropped attorney Camille Vasquez, who famously defended Johnny Depp in his defamation trial. She is pictured on June 1, 2022
West has been represented by the company since 2016 after he left for one year for the agency UTA.
Meanwhile, production studio MRC announced on Monday they are shelving a documentary they made about the 45-year-old rapper.
MRC studio executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and Scott Tenley announced in a memo Monday: ‘We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.’
Wiczyk and Satchu are co-founders and co-CEOs of MRC Entertainment. Tenley is the chief business officer. Shelving the documentary comes just days after the French fashion house Balenciaga cut ties with Ye, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
A number of Jewish executives have also called Kanye out for his hateful remarks, with DailyMail.com reporting that Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel penned an op-ed calling for all major brands to drop the rapper.
Emanuel wrote: ‘Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience.’
Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian also broke her silence, claiming she ‘stands together with the Jewish community’ in a public declaration of support in opposition to her former husband’s social media posts.
The father-of-four said that he is being disrespected by being called a rapper, because he is the ‘richest black man of all time, worth $11billion’
The father-of-four’s wealth could plummet to below $1billion after the termination with the brand, which comes after several other lucrative deals have been dropped
Gap and Kanye ended their partnership in September. European fashion house Balenciaga has also cut ties with him
Kanye earlier this year hit out at several brands with which he is affiliated, accusing them of not fulfilling certain contractual arrangements.
In now-deleted Instagram posts, the multiple Grammy award winning artist accused Adidas and U.S. apparel retailer Gap Inc of failing to build contractually promised permanent stores for products from his Yeezy fashion line.
He also accused Adidas of stealing his designs for its own products.
Gap and Kanye ended their partnership in September. European fashion house Balenciaga has also cut ties with Ye.
Adidas poached Kanye from rival Nike Inc in 2013 and agreed to a new long-term partnership in 2016 in what the company then called ‘the most significant partnership created between a non-athlete and a sports brand.’
The tie-up has produced several hot-selling ‘Yeezy’ branded Adidas sneakers that could cost anywhere between $200 and $700. The partnership also helped the German brand close the gap with Nike in the U.S. market.
Yeezy generates about 1.5 billion euros ($1.47 billion) in annual sales for Adidas, making up a little over 7 per cent of the company’s total revenue, according to estimates from Telsey Advisory Group.
Shares of the company, which cut its full-year forecast last week, were down about 3 per cent on the report amid the controversy over Ye.
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