Adidas said it looked into allegations of harassment Ye made to Yeezy staff members when working with the company.
Ye reportedly exposed his colleagues to pornographic and sexually explicit content, according to a claim. It continued for quite some time. Ye would display the information and address the female employees while holding meetings with the Yeezy workforce.
Adidas promised to look at it. However, the business still needs to verify its assertions. The accusations against Ye appeared in a published Rolling Stones piece. Adidas also vowed to find a solution to the issue.
“It is currently unclear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true. However, we take these allegations very seriously and have decided to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations,” said the company.
The story also mentioned a group that mailed Adidas a letter describing how senior business officials dismissed their accusations. However, according to reports, the Adidas representatives delayed taking action and failed to provide an apology to the harassed individuals.
Adidas has yet to hear back from Ye on the accusations against the musician. The probe comes after the firm terminated Ye’s employment after he made anti-Semitic comments.
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Adidas letting go of Ye
Many demanded to “cancel” Ye after he made several antisemitic statements. Numerous businesses, such as Adidas, cut ties with Ye due to the calls.
Ye lost billions of dollars due to companies like Gap and Foot Locker. And Adidas ultimately abandoned him in October, citing his “unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous” behavior.
“Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous. And they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” said Adidas.
“After a thorough review, the company has decided to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect,” it added.
“This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to €250 million on the company’s net income in 2022. Given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter. In addition, Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products and previous and new colorways under the partnership. More information will be given as part of the company’s upcoming Q3 earnings announcement on November 9, 2022,” the statement explained.
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A violent behavior
Adidas further stated that its business would not put up with aggressive behavior. The firm intends to find the truth about Ye’s actions because they occurred while he was still a partner with the business.
“He (Ye) has, in years past, exploded at women in the room with offensive remarks. And would resort to sexually disturbing references when providing design feedback. So this type of response from a brand partner is one that Adidas employees should never be subjected to. Nor should Adidas leadership ever tolerate,” said the letter addressed to the company.
“No wonder he didn’t want senior business managers in the room. He wanted to continue to use his power to violate you quietly. And threaten your role and existence within the team,” it added.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Source: CNBC
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