Kanye West is being extended some grace from Adidas’s top shot-caller, who is now defending his antisemitism rant.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden sat down for an interview with the “In Good Company” podcast last week, where he was asked about the soured deal between the sportswear company and the rapper. Gulden was awarded the position weeks after Adidas parted ways with West, but he believes Ye’s words were taken out of context.
“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,” Gulden, who became CEO weeks after the branded cut ties with Ye, said around the 15:00 min mark.
Cutting ties with Ye dropped his net worth from $2 billion last year to roughly $400 million. However, nobody seems to be feeling the impacts of the severed Yeezy agreement more than Adidas.
“That meant we lost that business, one of the most successful collabs in the history…very sad,” Gulden said during the podcast.
West lost several major collaborations after spewing his hate speech. During a Twitter rant on his now-disabled account, he said he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” He also praised Adolph Hitler in an interview with right winger Alex Jones in December 2022. In addition to Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, and Vogue backed away from partnerships with the Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter. Even JP Morgan Chase closed his bank account after his shocking comments.
West has slammed Adidas for releasing products without his consent and other mishaps during their time together. Therefore, while the company seems open to possibly bringing him back on board, West may not be interested in reconciling with Adidas. He has not yet shared his thoughts publicly on the matter.
