ADVERTISEMENT

Business

Adidas and Ye Settle All Claims Two Years After Stormy Split

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 28: Kanye West at Milk Studios on June 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. adidas and Kanye West announce the future of their partnership: adidas + KANYE WEST (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for ADIDAS) (Jonathan Leibson/Photographer: Jonathan Leibson/G)

(Bloomberg) -- Adidas AG reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye that concludes all claims connected to the sportswear maker’s decision to end their partnership two years ago. 

“Both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Gulden told journalists in a call. The agreement didn’t include any payments, he added.  “No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.”

The German company cut ties with the rapper and designer Ye, previously known as Kanye West, following a rash of offensive behavior, including antisemitic comments. The Yeezy line accounted for about half of Adidas’s total profits before the split, according to analysts. 

The sportswear company was stuck with some €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) of unsold Yeezy shoes and merchandise after the end of the partnership, and has been gradually selling it down ever since. It expects to be done with the brand by the end of this year.

 

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.