Celebrities urge Adidas to drop Kanye West after anti-Semitic comments
Adidas is feeling the heat.
After showing “White Lives Matter” T-shirts at his Yeezy Season 9 fashion show in Paris and spewing anti-Semitic remarks on social media and national television, Kanye West has jeopardized his relationships within the fashion world.
Most recently, Balenciaga cut ties with the controversial rapper, and Vogue exclusively told Page Six Style it has “no intention” of working with West ever again. Gap’s partnership with West is also kaput, as the star pulled the plug on his deal with the retailer back in September.
Now, pressure is mounting for Adidas — which has served as the manufacturer and distributor of West’s billion-dollar Yeezy brand for nearly a decade — to stop working with him, too.
“The world is watching, @adidas,” Kat Dennings tweeted, while Valerie Bertinelli asked, “Hey @adidas you up?”
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann wrote, “Hey, @adidas: Punish this motherf—king hate-mongering bastard @kanyewest or watch your business vanish.”
While Adidas has placed its partnership with West “under review,” the company (whose contract with him expires in 2026) has yet to issue a public statement regarding the rapper’s behavior.
“I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what? Now what?” West boasted during a recent interview on “Drink Champs,” taunting the athletic giant.
Josh Gad shared a clip of West’s bold claim on Twitter, writing, “This is not a good person. This is a person who’s dangerous rhetoric continues to go unchecked. Hey @adidas, is this right? Can he single out a single faith and group of people with hatred and vitriol and it doesn’t matter? Asking for a friend.”
Sophia Bush, meanwhile, shared a viral photo of a group of people standing above a Los Angeles freeway, with some shown doing the Nazi salute and holding a sign reading, “Honk if you know Kanye is right about the Jews.”
“Words matter. This is heartbreaking and enraging. The Holocaust happened less than 100 years ago. And the world said #NeverAgain. But hatred and division and evil propaganda have brought us here. What now? Will we fight our generation’s fascism?” Bush wrote. “@adidas, we are waiting.”
Wrestler The Iron Sheik chimed in as well, tweeting, “ADIDAS WHERE YOU AT ON THIS BUBBA? DONT BE THE JABRONI AND NOT SPEAK UP AGAINST THE HATE OF THE BEAUTIFUL JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Many on social media have also pointed out that the German brand’s founders, brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, had ties to the Nazi Party, making the brand’s current silence particularly problematic.
Plenty of other celebrities — including West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, as well as her sisters Kendall, Kylie and Khloé and mom, Kris — have shared posts condemning the protesters in Los Angeles and showing support for the Jewish people, but stopped short of mentioning Adidas or West directly.
“Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” Kim wrote on Instagram Stories Monday. “I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”
A representative from Adidas did not immediately return Page Six Style’s request for comment.
