Adidas has ended its “fight” with Kanye West following the anti-Semitic remarks he made in 2022, which caused the collaboration between the sports brand and American rapper “Yeezy” to fail.
Addidas then stopped the collection and began selling Yeezy inventory at wholesale prices.
However, on Tuesday, Adidas said it had reached an agreement with Mr. West to end all legal proceedings between them.
“There are no more unanswered questions and there is no more money going one way or the other,” Adidas Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden said at a conference call.
“There was tension on many issues (but) … both sides said we don't need to fight anymore,” Gulden said on the call regarding the company's latest financial results .
The drama with West “is a thing of the past,” he added.
“When you have disputes like this, you make arrangements, you have legal opinions, there are negotiations and settlements are reached, and that's the end of it.
“No one owes anyone anything anymore. What happened is history,” he said.
The end of the partnership left Adidas with Yeezy shares worth around €1.2 billion (£840 million), with the sports brand selling its products in batches and donating the profits to NGOs, including its own recently launched anti-discrimination foundation.
The last stock of Yeezy will be sold by the end of 2024, the company said.
The decision to abandon the “fight” marks a stark contrast to 2022. At the time, Adidas said it “does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other type of hate speech.”
“Ye’s recent comments and actions are unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” it added.
Adidas and Mr West began collaborating in 2014, resulting in a hugely successful sportswear brand.
Demand for Yeezy products has not waned even after the furor, with many Yeezy sneakers doing well on the resale market and selling for hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of pounds.
West had his accounts suspended on Instagram and X (then known as Twitter) after making a series of anti-Semitic comments in October 2022.
He reiterated these claims in a number of interviews and podcasts, not all of which were broadcast, over the next two months.
In December of that year, Mr. West appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars show, where he spoke of his admiration for Adolf Hitler.
The rapper, now estranged from celebrity Kim Kardashian, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years ago and has spoken publicly about his mental health struggles.
