When Adidas cut ties with Kanye West a year ago, ending their wildly lucrative shoe deal, the breakup appeared to be the culmination of weeks of his inflammatory remarks about Jews and Black Lives Matter.
But a New York Times examination found that behind the scenes, the partnership was fraught from the start.
Mr. West, who now goes by Ye, subjected employees to antisemitic and crude sexual comments and routine verbal abuse.
As Adidas executives doubled down on a partnership that boosted company profits and made Mr. West a billionaire, they scrambled for ways to cope with the star’s demands and provocations.
Interviews with current and former employees of Adidas and of Mr. West, along with hundreds of previously undisclosed internal records, including contracts, text messages and financial documents, provide the fullest accounting yet of the relationship.
Persons:
Ye, West
Organizations:
Adidas, Kanye West, New York Times