Kanye West Berates Adidas For Releasing ‘Fake’ Yeezys
Kanye West recently criticized Adidas for allegedly selling unauthorized colourways of his Yeezy line and taking legal action against him.
The rapper expressed his frustration on social media, calling out the sportswear brand for using his name without approval and labelling the new releases as “corny.”
West emphasized that he did not create these colourways and is not benefiting financially from them. Additionally, he mentioned personal struggles such as not being able to see his children and having his Vulture’s album removed from streaming platforms.
“All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the colour of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing As far as the system goes What yall gone do now Take my album down again Freeze my accounts again Threaten people to not work with me again All the new non approved 350’s are corny,” he added.
West then posted a follow-up video where he further explained his position. “Let me explain really clearly to you guys what’s happening now with Adidas,” he said in the clip.
“Not only are they putting out fake colourways that are non-approved, they’re suing me for $250 million and not paying me for these shoes that they’re putting out that have my name on them.
They’re using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist, one of y’all favourite artists, right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”
Kanye and Adidas unveiled their initial collaboration in 2013, marking the beginning of a fruitful partnership that spanned almost ten years. Throughout their time working together, they launched popular joint projects such as the NMD, Ultra Boost, and Yeezy. Unfortunately, the extensive partnership came to an abrupt halt in October 2022 following Ye’s series of antisemitic remarks.
The shoe brand said it “does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech” and that the rappers’ comments were “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous.” Adidas said the comments violated the company’s “values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
