Kanye West seems to have another gripe with Adidas.
The multihyphenate took to Instagram today to air out the Three Stripes, sharing a lengthy statement devoid of punctuation alleging the brand copied his work. In the rant, West shared a photo of the Adidas Adilette 22 and called it “a fake Yeezy,” and demanded Adidas CEO, Kasper Rorsted, talk to him.
“THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now To Kasper I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more,” West wrote on Instagram. “To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can’t cause they’ll loose their contract or be called crazy Bravery is not being afraid Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth This Ye with the blue paint on my face.”
West continued, “These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves I’m not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me Happy Monday.”
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This is not the first time West has aired out Adidas publicly. Most notably, the rapper-turned-designer addressed his not having a seat on the Adidas or Gap boards in September 2020, and wrote “Black board seats matter” via Twitter. Later in the month, West once again took to Twitter and demanded to be added to both the Adidas and Gap boards, stating he is wearing Jordans until he lands on the Adidas board and that he wasn’t releasing anything until he was added to Gap.
After creating for Nike, West signed with Adidas in 2013. In June 2016, Adidas and West announced they had extended their partnership, calling it a “Yeezy-branded entity creating footwear, apparel and accessories for all genders across street and sport.” At the time, Adidas called the alliance “the most significant partnership ever created between a nonathlete and an athletic brand.”
