German clothing brand Adidas has canceled its collaboration with American rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) “immediately” after the artist expressed anti-Semitic and racist statements. The fashion company has that in a declaration announced. Ye made the baseless claim in a now-deleted podcast that Jewish people have secret power, appeared during Paris fashion week wearing a t-shirt that read “White Lives Matter,” and suggested to the media that “slavery is a choice.”
“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or other forms of hate speech,” the company said. “Ye’s recent comments and actions are unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Adidas has been under pressure to cut business ties with Ye for some time after the brand was urged on social media to take a stand against the rapper’s recent controversial statements. Other companies, such as fashion labels Balenciaga and Gap, had already stopped working with Ye in recent weeks. Adidas, with which Ye ran the ‘Yeezy’ sneaker deal, is the latest brand to break with the artist. Ye’s Twitter and Instagram accounts have also been blocked and a documentary about him will not be released for the time being.