Adidas and Kanye West reach amicable settlement after years of legal disputes

After years of legal disputes, Adidas has reached an amicable out-of-court agreement with rapper Kanye West (now known as Ye) without any financial exchange.

“There [aren’t] any more open issues and there is no … money going either way,” the Adidas chief executive, Bjorn Gulden, told journalists on Tuesday, without giving any details of the agreement.

“There were tensions on many issues [but]... both parties said we don’t need to fight any more" Gulden added. “No one owes anything to anybody any more. Whatever was is history.”

Adidas and West initially joined forces in 2014 after West’s split from Nike, creating one of the most successful collaborations in sportswear history, which helped propel West to billionaire status.

However Adidas cut ties with the rapper in October 2022 following his antisemitic comments which they deemed “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.

At the time, the 24-time Grammy-winning rapper, who is said to struggle with his mental health, confessed his admiration for Hitler and the Nazis during an interview with Alex Jones, a far-right radio show host, as well as voicing several anti-Semitic remarks on X (formerly Twitter).

The German sportswear's decision to cut ties left the brand with €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of Yeezy sneakers piled up in warehouses. The company decided to sell some of the remaining shoes in batches, with two releases last year and another that launched earlier this year, and donate a portion of the proceeds to anti-hate groups.

Of the €300 million profit it earned from the sales of Yeezy shoes last year, the company said it had given away or planned to donate over €140 million (about $152 million).

The company expects all Yeezy stock to be sold by the end of 2024.