Adidas has once more been criticized by Kanye West following the apparel giant’s release of “fake” Yeezy 350s, which the rapper asserts are an unapproved design.
Ye, who was formerly known as Kanye West, learned on Monday (February 26) that Adidas intended to produce the “Steel Grey” 350 V2s bearing his designs. In response, Ye condemned his former business partner on Instagram and essentially called for a boycott.
“None who adores Ye would purchаse these counterfeits.” The Yeezys “Adidas is suing me for not being compensated for these colorways; I never created them,” he wrote in part in a lengthy caption that accompanied a screenshot of the footwear. “Everyone knows that the 350 has been corny, and all the new non-approved 350s are silly.”
Ye subsequently uploaded an Instagram video in which he detailed his dispute with Adidas and asserted that the company was pursuing legal action against him for promoting the Yeezy line.
“They are not only releasing counterfeit colorways that have not been approved, but they are also suing me for $250 million and not compensating me for these shoes bearing my nаme,” he claimed while speaking through titanium prostheses.
Adidas did not respond to a request for comment from Billboard from a representative.
Ye issued these remarks subsequent to Adidas’ declaration on Monday that it would divest a portion of its remaining Yeezy stock. This presented a precarious predicament for the company, which severed ties with Ye in 2022 on account of his series of hate speech and antisemitic remarks. Adidas claims that a portion of the proceeds from such sales have been donated to organizations that “confront hatred and discrimination, including racism and antisemitism,” since the partnership was severed.
There is currently no evidence to suggest that Adidas has initiated a new legal proceeding against West or his companies as of Monday afternoon. Adidas, on the other hand, disclosed in December 2022 that it had initiated a private arbitration proceeding against West’s Yeezy LLC. The basis of the case was that West’s “racist, antisemitic, and other оffensive public statements and conduct” had contravened their partnership agreement and inflicted “considerable damage to its brand.”
West’s Monday assertion that Adidas was “suing” him may have been an allusion to the aforementioned arbitration proceeding. Due to the deliberate nature of arbitration proceedings being conducted in private, it is uncertain whether $250 million is at stake in that particular case or whether it is even ongoing.
A potential avenue for reconciliation between Ye and Adidas had emerged following the rapper’s encounter with the organization’s CEO Bjorn Gulden last week; however, that appears to have ceased to exist at this time.
Following severing ties with the Chicago-born rap star in May 2023, the organization resumed selling Yeezy merchandise and made an effort to seize $75 million worth of Yeezy funds from his bank account. A week later, a judge reversed the order to impound the funds.