Kanye West and Adidas Settle Legal Claims Over Partnership End
No money was exchanged in the out-of-court settlement, with Adidas CEO saying: “No one owes anybody anything anymore”
Nearly two years to the date of when Adidas dropped Kanye West amidst his storm of antisemitic comments, the company has settled all legal claims with the rapper. According to Bloomberg, the settlement concludes without financial exchanges from either party.
“Both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” said CEO Bjorn Gulden. “No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.” Adidas and West settled out of court, with the claims from both sides being withdrawn.
In 2023, Adidas started to clear house on its remaining stock of Yeezys. The company brought in around $437 million its first sale of the leftover sneakers. A portion of the proceeds benefitted charities including the Anti-Defamation League and a non-profit founded by George Floyd’s brother.
“This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory and allows us to make substantial donations,” Gulden said at the time. The company declined to confirm whether West would receive royalties from the sales, given the constraints of certain contractual obligations. The sale came months after some Adidas shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against the company. They alleged that the brand failed to minimize the fallout from the West split, which impacted stocks. The suit was dismissed in August 2024.
Last September, Gulden reflected on West’s antisemitic comments and the decision to have Adidas step away from their partnership after six years. “He made some statements which wasn’t that good, and that caused [Adidas] to break the contract and withdraw the product,” he said. “Very unfortunate, because I don’t think he meant what he said, and I don’t think he’s a bad person. It just came across that way.”
