Adidas boss defends Kanye West’s anti-Semitic outbursts
The chief executive of Adidas has defended Kanye West’s anti-Semitic outbursts after the company ended its nine-year relationship with the rapper last fall.
CEO Bjørn Gulden, 58, said: ‘I don’t think he meant what he said,’ and praised the rapper for being one of the most ‘creative people in the world.’
West, 46, said that he wanted to go ‘death con 3’ on Jewish people in a tweet last October. As a result, Adidas ended its business relationship with him, which had spanned nearly a decade.
After the split, Adidas donated part of the $560 million it made when offloading $1.3billion worth of Yeezy’s unsold shoes to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
Gulden said on the In Good Company podcast: ‘I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world. Both in music and what I call street culture.
‘He’s extremely creative and has, together with Adi, created a Yeezy line that was very successful.
‘And then, as a creative person, he made some statements which wasn’t that good.
‘And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product.
‘Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said, and I don’t think he’s a bad person – it just came across that way.’
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Hmmm, your opinion
Yinmu