Photo Credit: Matthew Hamilton
Adidas reaches an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye to put an end to legal proceedings between the two entities.
Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to end all legal proceedings between the two. The company confirmed the news today, Tuesday, October 29. Adidas added that no money changed hands in the agreement.
The sportswear brand and the rapper had been locked in legal battle across multiple lawsuits over the past couple of years, since Adidas terminated its partnership with Ye over antisemitic comments he made on social media and in interviews.
CEO Bjorn Gulden told reporters on a conference call, “There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no money going either way, and we both move on.” Further details of the deal were not provided.
“There were tensions on many issues, and […] when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said, ‘we don’t need to fight anymore,’ and withdrew all the claims,” Gulden continued.
That said, Financial Times reported Adidas received over $108 million (€100 million) from the settlement with Ye, which involved unwinding a previous provision relating to outstanding legal issues that are now resolved.
This money, along with another €150 million, is earmarked for charity, the company confirmed. Last year, Adidas set up an independent non-profit foundation to oversee the distribution of those funds to “promote social and environmental progress.”
Gulden also confirmed that Adidas will sell the remainder of its leftover Yeezy stock by the end of this year, in what it calls the final chapter of the relationship. Afterward, “there are no open issues between us.”
The news comes as Adidas reports robust sales growth in China and the US in the three months ending in September. This number accounts for Yeezy sales made in the prior year being stripped out for comparison. “The third quarter was a very strong quarter for us and again, better than expected,” says Gulden.