Kanye West and Adidas end 'dispute' over decision to drop rapper over anti-Semitism | Kanye West

Adidas says it has reached an amicable agreement with rapper Kanye West to end all legal proceedings between them without exchanging money.

The German sportswear giant has been embroiled in a dispute with the artist, now known as Ye, since they cut ties in 2022 amid anti-Semitism allegations against him.

“There [aren’t] “There are no more unanswered questions and no … money is flowing in one direction or the other,” Adidas CEO Björn Gulden told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday, without giving details of the agreement.

“There were tensions on many issues [but] … both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore.”

The drama with West “is a thing of the past,” he added.

“When there are conflicts like this, you make arrangements and you have legal opinions and there are negotiations and settlements are made and that's the end of it.”

“No one owes anyone anything anymore. What was is history.”

Adidas and West entered into a business deal in 2014 after the rapper ended his collaboration with Nike.

The partnership was one of the most successful sportswear collaborations in history, and the resulting Yeezy line helped make West a billionaire.

But when West made a series of anti-Semitic comments on social media in October 2022, Adidas announced it was terminating the partnership, calling his comments “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous,” adding that the company “promotes anti-Semitism and any other type of hate speech.” “will not tolerate”.

West repeated many of his claims in several interviews and later said his fortune plummeted by $2 billion in a single day as a result of various companies dumping him.

Gulden defended West a year later, saying the rapper's comments were “very unfortunate because I don't think he meant what he said and I don't think he's a bad person either – it came.” Just over there.”

“That meant we lost that business. “One of the most successful collaborations in history – very sad,” he told the “In Good Company” podcast. “But that can also happen when you work with third parties. It's part of the game. It can happen to an athlete, it can happen to an entertainer. It’s part of the business.”

Terminating the partnership in 2022 will leave Adidas with unwanted Yeezy shares worth around 1.2 billion euros, including shoes and other goods.

Adidas has sold its huge inventory of Yeezy products in batches and donated the proceeds to NGOs, including a foundation set up by the company itself in March to support anti-discrimination initiatives.

The remaining Yeezy shares will be sold by the end of 2024, the company said.

Gulden addressed the drama with West as he presented the company's third-quarter results, which were released back in early October.

Between July and September, Adidas sales totaled 6.4 billion euros ($7 billion), up 7% from the same period last year.

Adidas said it raised its financial guidance for the year “to reflect better-than-expected performance in the quarter and current brand momentum.”

Gulden said the company has managed to increase its sales with other lucrative footwear collections such as the Samba, Gazelle and Campus ranges.

Agence-France Press contributed to this report