Adidas has been sitting on millions of pairs of Yeezy shoes since cutting ties with Ye in October. That decision came after the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, posted a series of anti-Semitic tweets. Now the German sportswear company says it won’t destroy the product, but will likely sell its stock of unsold Yeezy shoes and donate the proceeds.
On Thursday, Chief Executive Björn Gulden told investors during the company’s yearly meeting that destroying that many pairs of shoes “does not make sense,” and that “burning is not a solution.” He said the company will “try to sell parts of the product” over time and donate the proceeds to charities that represent groups whom the rapper’s comments may have negatively impacted. He did not name specific charities.
He also noted that the market value of the unsold stock is 1 billion euros (about $1.09 billion).
Gulden defended the company’s decision to work with the rapper in the first place. “As difficult as he was, he is perhaps the most creative mind in our industry,” he said.
The move comes months after the company terminated its partnership with the problematic artist. But the end of the partnership was a crushing loss. Adidas lost about 1.2 billion euros (about $1.31 billion) in annual revenue and 500 million euros ($545.80 million) in operating profit.
Ye was no stranger to controversy before his outpouring of anti-Semitic tweets and blatantly racist comments in interviews—including one in which he praised Hitler—that followed. But according to reporting from Rolling Stone, the rapper demonstrated deeply inappropriate behavior while working with Adidas. The report said he would scream, throw things, and showed inappropriate pictures of then-wife, Kim Kardashian, to employees. The report also said that his Yeezy collection was inspired by “skinheads and Nazis.”
After employees wrote an anonymous letter, accusing the company of blatantly overlooking the star’s problematic behavior, Adidas launched an internal investigation into Ye’s conduct. On Thursday, the company gave in to pressure from its investors to disclose the results of that investigation. Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer said the investigation uncovered “partially inappropriate behavior” by Ye, but spared the details.
He added that the company is looking at how to “improve the management of Adidas partnerships and to minimize the risk of inappropriate behavior by partners and unacceptable working conditions.”
It’s unclear just what portion of the proceeds will go to charity. Regardless, Ye still stands to make an estimated 15% of turnover.
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