Despite severing relations with the controversial musician and fashion designer, German sportswear company Adidas still has a huge stock of Kanye West’s “Yeezy” products. According to reports, the corporation has been unsure what to do with the products, albeit it recently stated what it planned to do with some of them.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Guden stated on Thursday that the business will sell a portion of its Yeezy items and donate the revenues to charity, according to VOA. During an annual general meeting, Guden told shareholders that “burning the goods is not the solution.”
“What we will try to do over time is to sell part of these goods and to donate the money to organizations that help us and which also have been hurt by Kanye’s statements,” Guden said. “When we will do that and how we will do that is not clear but we’re working on it.”
Adidas severed relations with Kanye, now known as Ye, in 2022 after he made a series of antisemitic remarks. Prior to breaking ties with the rapper and fashion designer, the Adidas Yeezy line was one of the most successful fashion collaborations, with the firm earning billions of dollars in sales.
The firm announced earlier this week that if it does not sell the Yeezy products that it has in stock, it will likely lose $1.3 billion. According to the BBC, Adidas’ sales in North America have dropped by 20% as a result of the breakup with Kanye.
According to How Africa, Guden stated that severing relations with Kanye West was “hurting” the company. Both Adidas and Kanye suffered financial losses after their relationship ended, with the former losing $540 million in its final 2022 quarter due to Kanye’s unsold Yeezy items. Kanye, on the other hand, lost his billionaire title when his net worth fell from $1.3 billion to $400 million.
His deal with Adidas accounted for $1.5 billion of his net worth. “With that gone, Ye is no longer a billionaire,” Forbes wrote when the deal was canceled. “It caps a stunning, self-induced downfall for one of the brashest and most volatile personalities to have graced Forbes’ pages.”