Kanye West Accused Adidas of Selling Fake Yeezys After Ending Partnership; Rapper Calls for Boycott

Kanye West called for an Adidas boycott after the rapper saw an advertisement that did not come from the brand's official social media pages.

Following his antisemitic and other controversial rants, West lost his billionaire status after Adidas and other big brands ended their partnerships with him. However, the rapper recently attacked the athletic apparel and footwear corporation due to an ad.

Kanye West Pulls Adidas Down

On Instagram, West posted a screenshot of a social media update from a user featuring the alleged Adidas Yeezy product that would hit the market soon.

"Adidas begins their next roll out of YZY product. The 350 V2 Steel Grey is now available via a draw on the confirmed app," the caption read.

He also responded in a video posted on Monday, February 26, saying, "Not only are they putting out fake color ways that are not approved, they're suing me for $250 million dollars. They're also not paying me for these shoes that they're putting out that have my name on it."

Adidas filed a lawsuit against the Yeezy founder in 2023 to freeze his brand's $75 million funds. The company dropped the lawsuit, but no resolution was confirmed then.

Meanwhile, Adidas has yet to respond to West's recent condemnation, but the "Jesus Is King" rapper supported his call and pledged not to buy the pair.

One said, "Ye doesn't need adidas... ADIDAS NEEDS YE. Ye always speaking nothing but the truth and facts and most of yall can't handle that️"

Another wrote, "Nobody disrespects my king like this."

"they just rolled out the poop colorway ye you have to stop them please man," a third chimed in.

Why Did Adidas End Partnership With Ye?

Adidas released a statement confirming it severed ties with West due to his actions of antisemitism and other hate speech-related incidents. The hip-hop star reportedly has the company's "values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."

While West lost his billionaire status then, Adidas' chief executive Bjørn Gulden said in a statement on the brand's website that it could lose up to $1.3 billion in sales in 2023 due to the unsold Yeezy products in its inventory.

"Together we will work on creating brand heat, improve our product engine, better serve our distribution and ensuring that adidas is a great and fun place to work. adidas has all the ingredients to be successful: A great brand, great people, fantastic partners, and a global infrastructure second to none," the statement continued.

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Kanye West