Legal dispute settled after two years
Adidas has settled the legal dispute with the controversial musician Kanye West. No money was paid to the scandalous US rapper, who now performs under the name "Ye".
"We no longer owe him anything and he no longer owes us anything," said Adidas CEO Björn Gulden. No more money was paid as part of the settlement. "This means we are drawing a line under the matter."
Most recently, both sides still had lawsuits pending, which have now been withdrawn. When weighing up the respective claims, both sides came to the conclusion "that we no longer need to argue," said Gulden.
Adidas parted ways with West in October 2022 - still under Gulden's predecessor Kasper Rorsted - after he had repeatedly made racist and anti-Semitic statements. The rapper, who now performs under the name "Ye", had designed a successful shoe line under the name "Yeezy" since 2014, which brought Adidas billions in sales, and received millions in royalties for it.
After the split, Adidas was left with unsold "Yeezy" shoes worth 1,2 billion euros and reported heavy losses. Gulden, who has been at the helm of Adidas since the beginning of 2023, had decided to throw the remaining stock onto the market so as not to have to destroy the shoes.
According to Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer, the inventory of the sneaker collection – measured in terms of purchase prices – has now shrunk from 500 million to 50 million euros. The remainder is to be sold at cost this year.
In connection with the agreement, Adidas released provisions of 100 million euros and donated the amount to the Adidas Foundation. In total, the company donated almost 250 million euros from the "Yeezy" proceeds, as promised.
