Adidas has been sued by investors over its Yeezy partnership with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, alleging the sportswear giant “routinely ignored extreme behavior” for years.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Oregon, alleges that senior executives at the German sportswear giant were aware of the risks of working with Ye “as early as 2018,” Bloomberg reported.
The lawsuit alleges that Adidas considered ending the partnership years earlier, but a 2018 report to shareholders only “generally” alluded to the risks of doing business with Ye. The company began working with Ye in 2015 and in 2018 he made controversial remarks referring to slavery as a “choice.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the company didn’t disclose that Ye made antisemitic remarks to Adidas staffers. It names Kasper Rorsted, former CEO of Adidas, along with Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer. The rapper isn’t named as a defendant.
“We outright reject these unfounded claims and will take all necessary measures to vigorously defend ourselves against them,” an Adidas spokesperson said in a statement to USA Today.