Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – Kanye West and adidas have settled
their years-long legal battle, which dated back to the company cutting ties
with the rapper and producer back in 2022 over his antisemitic comments.
On Tuesday, October 29, a report by Reuters announced that
the parties had reached an out-of-court settlement that concluded all of the
cases between them.
“Both parties said we don’t
need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” company CEO Bjørn Gulden
said on a conference call, per Complex. “The agreement didn’t include any
payments. No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.
“There were tensions on many
issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims
on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew
all the claims,” Gulden continued.
The settlement occurred two years almost to the day from
when Kanye West was dropped by adidas.
On October 25, 2022, the German sportswear giant announced
its decision to terminate its lucrative partnership with Kanye with immediate
effect, citing his antisemitic remarks.
“adidas does not tolerate
antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the statement read. “Ye’s
recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and
they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect
and fairness.
“After a thorough review, the
company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye
immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to
Ye and his companies. adidas will stop the adidas Yeezy business with immediate
effect.”
It continued: “adidas is the
sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and
new colorways under the partnership. More information will be given as part of
the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022.”
