Pressure mounted this past weekend on Adidas to cut ties with Ye over his recent anti-Semitic comments.
The hashtag “#boycottAdidas” was trending as a video clip surfaced on social media in which the rapper formerly known as Kanye West says the German shoe company can’t end their partnership.
“The thing about it being Adidas is like, I can literally say anti-Semitic s**t and they can’t drop me,” he said on Drink Champs. “I can say anti-Semitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”
Some people speculated that Ye was referencing the fact that Adidas – which sells the Yeezy line of athletic shoes – was founded by brothers Adolf Dassler and Rudolf Dassler, who became members of the Nazi Party.
Adidas announced earlier this month that its partnership with Ye was “under review” after he wore a shirt emblazoned with “White Lives Matter” at a fashion show in Paris. In a statement, the company said it made the move after "repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation.”
But, the company has been silent about Ye’s antisemitic comments. On Saturday, it released the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Salt,” which quickly sold out. The Yeezy brand is worth a reported $1.7 billion U.S. in annual sales to Adidas.
Last week, the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League urged Adidas to ditch Ye over his “increasingly strident antisemitic remarks.” It called on the company to reconsider supporting the [Yeezy] product line and to issue a statement making clear that the Adidas company and community has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism.”
Ye came under fire after he shared screenshots of a text conversation with Diddy in which he told the hip hop mogul: "Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war.” After the post was removed by Instagram, Ye tweeted: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
He later wrote: “Who you think created cancel culture?”
In an interview that aired last week, Ye said: “I don’t like the term anti-Semitic. It’s been a term that has allowed people, specifically in my industry, to get away with murder – sometimes literally – and get away with robbing and doing bad.
“I don’t believe in that term. One thing is, Black people are also Jew. I classify as Jew also so I actually can’t be an anti-Semite so the term is not factual.”
In another interview, Ye was asked if he regretted writing “death con 3” (an apparent reference to the military condition “DEFCON”). Ye replied: “No, absolutely not.”
He eventually offered a qualified apology. “I will say I’m sorry for the people that I hurt with the ‘Death Con’ — the confusion that I caused,” he said.