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Over 80,000 sign petition for Adidas to cut ties with Kanye West
Friends star David Schwimmer and the the Anti-Defamation League are among those calling for ties to be severed
October 24, 2022 16:44
Friends star David Schwimmer and the the Anti-Defamation League are among those calling for ties to be severed
October 24, 2022 16:44The Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched a petition calling on athletic apparel company Adidas to drop its partnership with Kanye West following repeated antisemitic tirades over the last two and a half weeks.
At the time of writing, there are over 80,00 signatures of the petition on change.org.
The petition reads: “By continuing to align itself with a public figure who has revealed himself to be a virulent antisemite, Adidas would be demonstrating that it does not care about racism against Jews.”
Amidst making headlines for his antisemitic outbursts, on October 16 West appeared on the Drink Champs podcast where he said, “The thing about it being Adidas is like, I can literally say antisemitic s**t and they cannot drop me.”
West and the global retail giant had been partnering to create “footwear, apparel and accessories for all genders across street and sport,” with plans to release a new line of Yeezy shoes this week.
Adidas marketed the collaboration as “The most significant partnership ever created between an athletic brand and a non-athlete,”
In response to the backlash and calls for cutting ties with the troubled hip-hop artist, Adidas has said their relationship with West was currently “under review”.
Balenciaga and Vogue have already ended their dealings with West over his recent comments.
West’s recent instances of antisemitism has fuelled conspiracy theories and encouraged far-right and neo-Nazi support.
On the “Drink Champs” podcast, West demanded that he wanted “all the Jewish children to look at they daddy and say “Why is Ye mad at us?””, referenced the “Jewish media” throughout the episode including by saying “A thing that a Jewish person will always say is they’ll say “This is mine” - something that a black person built, or any company built, they’ll be like “This is mine now”, and claiming that Jewish people in the entertainment industry will “take us and milk us until we die.”
Among other things, West also claimed that the “Jewish underground media mafia” turned their back on him, that the“Jewish media” own the Black voice, and that Donald Trump’s Jewish son-in-law only fostered the Abraham Accords in 2020 to “make money”.
Friends star David Schwimmer, the Anti-Defamation League, Chelsea Handler, and most of the Kardashian family are among those to speak out surrounding West’s recent comments.