Adidas cuts ties with rapper Kanye West over anti-Semitism

Clothing giant Adidas has cut ties with rapper Ye, known as Kanye West, saying it does "not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech".

Adidas's Yeezy brand collaboration with West was put under review, after he showed a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt design at Paris Fashion Week, reports BBC.

Days later, the rapper posted anti-Semitic comments on his Twitter account.

His products will be pulled from sale with immediate effect, said Adidas.

The sportswear brand has previously said the Yeezy brand collaboration with Ye was one of the most successful in the company's history.

Cutting the partnership means Adidas will make a net loss of £217m in 2022 as a result, it said.

Ye, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, had previously accused Adidas of stealing his designs in a now-deleted Instagram post.

In a statement on Tuesday, Adidas wrote: "Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."

Instagram and Twitter suspended Ye's account in the days following his anti-Semitic remarks. His business partnerships have also come under increasing pressure: Bank JP Morgan and clothing retailer Gap said in recent months that they were ending their relationship with Ye.

Ye accused Gap of not honouring terms of their deal, including by failing to open standalone stores for his Yeezy fashion label.

Gap wrote in a statement on Tuesday that it will be removing Yeezy Gap products from its stores, and that it had shut down the YeezyGap.com website.

"Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated... We are partnering with organisations that combat hate and discrimination," Gap said on its Instagram account, @yeezyxgap.

Although Adidas put its relationship under review after Ye showed his "White Lives Matter" T-shirt, the company did not say the collection was the reason for the review.

It told the BBC it had made the decision to put the partnership under review after "repeated efforts to privately resolve the situation" of being accused by Ye of "stealing" his designs.