Adidas Drops Kanye Just Days After He Boasted ‘I Can Say Anti-Semitic Things and Adidas Can’t Drop Me’

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It was less than a week ago when footage emerged of Kanye West taunting Adidas over the public pressure the company was facing to drop him over his anti-Semitic and outrageous behavior. The rapper claimed the international sportswear retailer “can’t” drop him over his antics, but he was apparently wrong about that because they just did.

Adidas announced on Tuesday that they are ending their business partnership with West — also known as Ye — in light of his conduct. The announcement comes after Adidas launched a review of their relationship with West after he denigrated the company, and the drop marks the latest effort by West’s corporate partners to terminate their business with him.

From the company’s statement:

Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. 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.

Adidas’ decision follows the release of footage from West on the Drink Champs podcast, where his interview was deleted after he continued his anti-Jewish outbursts on the show. The West clip was dated October 16, but 5 days later, it emerged online and showed him bragging that “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?”

The clip sparked public calls for Adidas to drop West, but they also faced internal pressure after the company’s director of trade marketing Sarah Camhi publicly demanded that they end their silence on his anti-Semitism.

“We need to do better as a brand,” Camhi wrote on LinkedIn. “We need to do better for our employees, and we need to do better for our communities. Until Adidas takes a stand, I will not stand with Adidas.”