Sneaker News adidas and former creative partner Kanye West have reached an out-of-court settlement ending all legal proceedings between them. As part of the agreement, no money has changed hands in either direction.
“There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no… money going either way, and we both move on,” CEO Bjorn Gulden told reporters on a conference call.
Over the last two years, adidas and the embattled culture icon had been involved in serious disputes after the German sportswear brand ended all relations with West following his antisemitic comments. adidas was still moving forward with selling off remaining Yeezy footwear inventory, which generated considerable revenue for the brand since the split.
However, the movement of Yeezys have slowed significantly, likely due to declining interest of the existing models and Kanye himself leading an anti-adidas campaign through his various public appearances.
Yeezy product still saw € 200 million in generated revenue for the most recent Q3, but significantly down compared to the € 350 million in Q3 of 2023. This is largely due to declining stock quantity and the overall disinterest in the available models that weren’t popular even while the Kanye x adidas partnership with seemingly harmonious.
Overall, adidas saw a 10% growth in currency-neutral revenues, with growth across all regions except for North America, likely due to declining Yeezy sales. Although down 7% for the quarter, North America revenue increased overall compared to last year.
Above photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images
