Among his other alleged disturbing actions, a new report exposes how the controversial artist drew a swastika during his first meeting with the sportswear brand back in 2013.
- Oct 28, 2023
AceShowbiz - Adidas apparently was aware of Kanye West's anti-Semitic views nearly a decade before it cut ties with the controversial rapper in 2022. Among his other alleged disturbing actions, a new report exposed how the "Donda" artist drew a swastika during their first meeting in 2013.
Published by the New York Times on Friday, October 27, the report claimed that the Yeezy designer met the Adidas team at the brand's headquarters in Germany to start "pitching ideas for the first shoe." At the time, Ye was allegedly frustrated with the team's designs.
"The Adidas employees, thrilled to get started, had arrayed sneakers and fabric swatches on a long table near a mood board pinned with images," the report shared. "But nothing they showed that day at the company's German headquarters captured the vision Mr. West had shared."
Two participants spilled to the news outlet, "To convey how offensive he considered the designs, he grabbed a sketch of a shoe and took a marker to the toe. Then he drew a swastika."
Not stopping there, the former husband of Kim Kardashian also allegedly "told a Jewish Adidas manager to kiss a portrait of Hitler every day." The report added, "And West told Adidas colleagues that he admired Hitler's command of propaganda."
Later in 2018, the "Jesus Is King" rapper was said to have admitted that he paid a former Yeezy chief executive a seven-figure settlement after they "accused him of repeatedly praising the architect of the Holocaust." Around that time, Ye reportedly planned to name his album "Hitler" before ultimately changing it to "Ye".
Despite Ye's disturbing conduct, Adidas remained silent. The sportswear brand even tripled his guaranteed annual salary during contract negotiations in 2016, even though it put a morals clause into the contract.
Adidas, along with other brands like Balenciaga and Gap, cut ties with Ye in late 2022 following backlash over his anti-Semitic remarks. At the time, Adidas noted in its statement that it has "no tolerance for hate speech and offensive behavior, which is why the company terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership."
