Adidas to sell Yeezy sneakers after ditching Kanye West

German sportswear giant Adidas said on Thursday it would sell its leftover Yeezy gear to charitable causes.

The Bavaria-based company ended its partnership in October with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after he made a series of offensive and anti-Semitic comments.

This resulted in approximately €1.2bn ($1.3bn) worth of unsold Yeezy branded shoes with an uncertain future.

Adidas CEO outlines the way forward for Yeezy gear

Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden told investors in Germany that burning equipment “is not the solution”

“What we’ll try to do over time is sell some of those assets and donate the money to organizations that help us and that were also hurt by Kanye’s statements,” he said. “When we will do this and how we will do it is unclear, but we are working on it.”

Gulden said Adidas wouldn’t donate the sneakers right away, fearing they would end up on the market indirectly.

Media reports suggest that selling the Yeezy gear would indeed help Ye financially, however. Due to a previous agreement between Adidas and Ye, the rapper would receive commissions worth 15% of revenue.

Investors sue Adidas

Adidas is being sued by shareholders over its past partnership with Ye. The investors behind the case say the company knew about the rapper’s “extreme behavior” but failed to act.

Gulden defended the company’s one-year contract with Ye, adding that “as difficult as it was, he is perhaps the most creative mind in our industry”.

“He created a model with Adidas that was sought after across the world,” commented Gulden, adding that “we lost that in a month.”

In early 2023, Europe’s biggest sportswear maker said it lost €400m in sales due to the breakup with Ye. The company was also forced to cut its stock dividend after severing the partnership.

Other companies that dropped Ye after his hurtful comments include Spanish fashion house Balenciaga and US financial services firm JPMorgan Chase & Co.

wd/kb (AP, AFP, dpa)