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Adidas cuts ties with Kanye West over anti-Semitic remarks

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="US entertainer Kanye West speaks during a meeting with US President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 11 October 2018 (reissued 05 July 2020). EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/10/25/kanye-west-epa-10252022.jpg"/><figcaption>US entertainer Kanye West speaks during a meeting with US President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 11 October 2018 (reissued 05 July 2020). <em>EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS</em></figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>BERLIN - German sportswear giant Adidas said Tuesday it was ending its partnership with Kanye West after a series of anti-Semitic outbursts by the controversial rapper.</p><p>Recent comments by West -- known formally as Ye -- were &quot;unacceptable, hateful and dangerous&quot;, Adidas said in a statement. </p><p>&quot;After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately.&quot;</p><p>Adidas said it would &quot;end production&quot; of the highly-successful &quot;Yeezy&quot; line designed together with West and &quot;stop all payments to Ye and his companies&quot;.</p><p>The abrupt end to the collaboration between the sportswear brand and rapper would slash Adidas&#x27;s net income in 2022 by &quot;up to 250 million euros ($246 million)&quot;, it estimated.</p><p>Adidas is the latest brand to part ways with West following his recent outbursts. Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga ended ties with the rapper last week, saying it &quot;no longer (has) any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.&quot;</p><p>On Monday, one of Hollywood&#x27;s biggest talent agencies, CAA, also said it was dropping West, while film and TV producer MRC said it was shelving an already-finished documentary about the artist.</p><p>Adidas began a review of its relationship with West earlier this month after he appeared at a fashion show in Paris wearing a shirt with the slogan &quot;White Lives Matter.&quot;</p><p>The phrase is a dog whistle to right-wing groups in the United States and a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement.</p><p>Days later he was locked out of Twitter and Instagram for threatening to &quot;Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.&quot;</p><p>Comments made by West &quot;violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness&quot;, Adidas said Tuesday.</p><p>The artist was associated with Nike for years but broke away in 2013, lending his name to Adidas as they launched their first Yeezy shoe together in 2015 -- a partnership that went on to make him a billionaire. </p><p>Along with Beyonce, Stella McCartney and Pharrell Williams, West&#x27;s has been one of the top names used by Adidas to boost sales, especially online.</p><p>Adidas had come under increasing pressure from rights campaigners and entertainment world figures to stop working with West.</p><p>, told the RND media group before Adidas&#x27;s announcement that West&#x27;s words could &quot;not be tolerated&quot;, urging the company to end its commercial relationship with the rapper.</p><p>Ari Emanuel, CEO of entertainment agency Endeavor, similarly called on all companies to cut ties with West.</p><p>&quot;Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience,&quot; Emanuel wrote in the Financial Times. &quot;There should be no tolerance anywhere for West’s anti-Semitism.&quot;</p><p>West&#x27;s ex-wife Kim Kardashian appeared to be joining the pile-on, though her tweet did not mention the father of her children by name.</p><p>&quot;Hate speech is never OK or excusable,&quot; she wrote on Twitter and Instagram on Monday.</p><p>&quot;I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.&quot;</p><div> </div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/10/23/22/balenciaga-breaks-ties-with-kanye-west">Balenciaga breaks ties with Kanye West</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/10/13/22/kanye-west-crosses-line-with-bigoted-remarks">Chaos agent Kanye West crosses line with bigoted remarks</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1478392" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

German sportswear giant Adidas said Tuesday it was ending its partnership with Kanye West after a series of anti-Semitic outbursts by the controversial rapper.