The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called on Adidas to drop its partnership with Kanye West over the rapper and fashion designer’s multiple recent antisemitic statements.
“Really, Adidas? You continue to partner w/ Ye as he spreads vile antisemitism AND release his product as we approach the anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, referring to the rapper by his new name Ye.
“Are you really this ignorant? Or simply indifferent?” he added.
The ADL also expressed outrage over the continued business relationship in a letter addressed to Adidas executives.
“In light of Kanye West’s increasingly strident antisemitic remarks over the past few weeks, we were disturbed to learn that Adidas plans to continue to release new products from his Yeezy brand without any seeming acknowledgement of the controversy surrounding his most recent remarks,” the letter said.
It went on to state that the advocacy organization was “particularly alarmed” to see that Adidas intended to release new products in West's Yeezy line shortly before the anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre on October 27, which was the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.
“At a time of rising antisemitism, when incidents in the US reached an all-time high in 2021, such [antisemitic] statements are more than damning – they are dangerous. Many other celebrities, as well as some corporations and pundits have joined ADL in calling out his hateful rhetoric. We hope that more companies, individuals, and political leaders will take action to show that there will be consequences for such hateful rhetoric and that they do not give Ye’s antisemitism a pass,” the letter said.
“This is why we are surprised and concerned that Adidas – a brand that supports inclusion and diversity – continues not only to support the Ye product line, but to release new products even as he continues to espouse hateful antisemitic ideas to his 31 million Twitter followers, and as those noxious ideas spread across social media and around the world thanks to his outsized media presence and celebrity status.”
ADL urged Adidas to reconsider their distribution of the rapper’s products and to issue a statement that Adidas “has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)