After almost a decade of dealing with rapper Kanye West's extreme antisemitic views, the sportswear giant Adidas decided to cut ties in October 2022.
The New York Times recently published a report that claims that Kanye had drawn a swastika at his first encounter with the company back in 2013.
Reports allege that when Yeezy and Adidas convened at the company's headquarters in Deutschland, the artist grew exasperated with what was being presented to him during the early stages of devising a shoe model.
Numerous ex-personnel claim they were part of this group striving to craft the first sneaker design for West.
"The Adidas employees, thrilled to get started, had arrayed sneakers and fabric swatches on a long table near a mood board pinned with images," the NYT article said. "But nothing they showed that day at the company's German headquarters captured the vision Mr. West had shared."
The reported incident caused turmoil among the employees present during the meeting, mainly because their conference was taking place only a short distance away from Nuremberg, where leaders of the Third Reich were convicted of crimes against humanity.
It is said that to demonstrate his disapproval of the shoe designs, he took a marker and drew a swastika on one of the sketches.
Though initially accused of one act of anti-Semitism and sexual offense, it was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Kanye's alleged behavior at Adidas.
According to information gathered by publication, during his near decade-long stay with the company, his actions grew increasingly more inappropriate.
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In 2018, reports surfaced that the former Yeezy chief executive had received a seven-figure settlement from the Adidas CEO after saying they accused him of showing admiration for Hitler's ability to use propaganda.
It was alleged that in conversations with some of his colleagues at Adidas, Kanye had gone as far as to say that Hitler was a "master marketer" and expressed great admiration for his "command of propaganda."
Despite some of his controversial decisions, the business benefited immensely from working with him. It was at this time that he desired to call his upcoming album "Hitler"- but eventually settled for a title of just "Ye."
Adidas had no qualms about the rapper's past behavior, tripling his guaranteed annual salary during negotiations for a new contract in 2016.
To their credit, they did include a morals clause within the agreement - though it wasn't until last year that this was enforced.
Ultimately, it was only after the artist embarked upon a series of anti-Semitic outbursts that Adidas finally severed ties with him at the end of 2022.
Apart from his own company, Kanye West also faced financial losses by canceling multiple partnerships. $1.1 billion evaporated from his net worth as Gap, Balenciaga, and Vogue all severed ties with him.
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