Adidas To Sell Existing Yeezy Products, Donate Significant Part Of Revenues

(RTTNews) - Sports apparel and footwear giant Adidas AG Friday announced it will begin selling some of the remaining inventory of Adidas YEEZY it made in collaboration with rapper Kanye West later this month.

Last year, Adidas terminated its partnership with Ye over his anti-Semitic remarks. The company then said that the decision would result in a short-term negative impact of up to 250 million euros on its fiscal 2022 net income due to the high seasonality of the Adidas Yeezy business in the fourth quarter.

"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," Adidas had then said in a statement.

Adidas said it will donate a significant amount to selected organizations working to combat discrimination and hate, including racism and antisemitism. These include but are not limited to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.

Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said: "After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining adidas YEEZY products. Selling and donating was the preferred option among all organizations and stakeholders we spoke to. We believe this is the best solution as it respects the created designs and produced shoes, it works for our people, resolves an inventory problem, and will have a positive impact in our communities. There is no place in sport or society for hate of any kind and we remain committed to fighting against it."

The products will only be available through the Adidas website and app.

Adidas said the decision will have no immediate impact on its current financial guidance for 2023.