Adidas to investigate claims Kanye West showed pornography to staff - The Guardian

The sportswear elephantine Adidas is to motorboat an autarkic probe into allegations of misconduct made this week against the US rapper and manner decorator Kanye West, including that helium showed pornography to staff astatine institution meetings.

The claims by unidentified unit astatine Yeezy and Adidas, which surfaced successful a Rolling Stone article connected Tuesday, included allegations that the musician, who has changed his sanction to Ye, showed an intimate representation of his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, successful occupation interviews, and that his “problematic behavior” was overlooked by Adidas management.

Staff allegations included successful a missive to Adidas obtained by the outlet included claims that Adidas “turned their motivation compass off” and failed to support employees from “years of verbal abuse, vulgar tirades, and bullying attacks”.

Adidas said successful a connection connected Thursday that “it is presently not wide whether the accusations made successful an anonymous missive are true” but that it took the claims “very seriously” and had “taken the determination to motorboat an autarkic probe of the substance instantly to code the allegations”.

The sportswear marque initially said it would not “discuss backstage conversations, details oregon events that pb to our determination to terminate the Adidas Yeezy partnership” but it had “been and continue[d] to beryllium actively engaged successful conversations with our employees astir the events that led to our determination to extremity the partnership”.

In 1 alleged 2017 incident, Ye yelled astatine a elder pistillate subordinate of the plan squad that a Yeezy sneaker was not up to standards. West reportedly looked down astatine his foot, and up astatine the employee, and said: “I privation you to marque maine a footwear I tin fuck.”

Analysts estimation that the Yeezy concern accounts for 7% of the group’s revenue. Adidas has said it believes losing Yeezy volition halve its expected profits this year. It is not yet wide if Adidas volition proceed to merchantability the designs, which the institution owns, without Yeezy’s logo, which it does not.

The determination to motorboat an enquiry comes aft 1 of Adidas’ largest shareholders, Union Investment, demanded clarity astir the alleged incidents. Last period Adidas abandoned a licensing and plan declaration with Ye aft helium made antisemitic threats.

Janne Werning, caput of ESG superior markets and stewardship astatine Union Investment, which holds a 1% involvement successful Adidas, told the Financial Times: “Adidas needs to disclose erstwhile the absorption and the supervisory committee was archetypal informed astir the interior allegations.”