Adidas CEO doubts that Kanye West really meant the antisemitic remarks that led Adidas to drop him
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said he doubts that Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, “meant what he said” when he made a series of antisemitic and offensive remarks last year
SAN FRANCISCO — Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said he doubts that Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, «meant what he said” when he made a series of antisemitic and other offensive remarks last year.
Almost a year ago, Adidas ended a major partnership with Ye over his statements, discontinued Ye’s line of Yeezy shoes and moved up the planned departure of its CEO. In a statement at that time, the company said it “does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.” It added: “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.”
Gulden struck a different tone on the investing podcast “In Good Company.”
“I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world,” Gulden said in an episode released Sept. 12. “Very unfortunate, because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person. It just came off that way.”
Gulden did not elaborate in the interview. He took over as CEO last January. An Adidas spokesperson said the company’s position has not changed and that ending the partnership with Ye was an appropriate measure.
For weeks prior to his rupture with the sneaker company, Ye had made antisemitic comments in interviews and social media, including an October Twitter post in which he said he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.
He had previously suggested that slavery was a choice and
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