Last year, Adidas decided to end its collaboration with Yeezy, Kanye West’s brand, following the latter’s anti-Semitic comments. But it seems that the rapper’s erratic mood has been making life difficult for the managers of the three-band firm for a long time, as illustrated by the existence of an internal chat group dedicated to managing the artist’s scandals. .
A group which, according to sources interviewed by the New York Timeshad been dubbed “Yzy Hotline”, while the artist’s “mood swings, excessive expectations and vehemence” during private negotiations worried Adidas management years before the 2022 breakup.
Swastika and portrait of Hitler
According to these internal sources, the problems started very early within the tandem formed by Adidas and Yeezy. Indeed, it seems that the collaborators had to endure the rapper’s anti-Semitic remarks from 2013. Worse still, Kanye West would have, on one occasion, drawn a swastika to show his discontent. An Adidas employee even claims that the artist encouraged him to “kiss a portrait of Hitler every day to practice unconditional love.”
So many revelations to be taken with a pinch of salt, as Adidas executives did not wish to comment, as did the representatives of Kanye West who were also contacted by the New York Times.