Adidas cut ties with Kanye West in October 2022 but recently decided to continue selling the rapper’s Yeezy sneakers left over after their split.
The German sportswear maker has since generated $437 million/Ksh61 billion in revenue from the first release of Yeezy sneakers.
Adidas is trying to offload the unsold shoes and donate part of the proceeds to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate – which were affected by Kanye West’s comments.
The first batch of shoes released in June, which sold out, helped the company reach an operating profit of $194 million in the second quarter.
The second sale started Wednesday August 2, 2023.
Adidas has already handed over $11 million to the groups and expected to give an additional $110 million, with further donations possible depending on how future sales go.
Kanye West’s antisemitic and other offensive comments led the company to end its partnership with the rapper in October.
Following the split, Adidas sought a way to dispose of $1.3 billion worth of the high-end shoes in a responsible way.
The blow-up of the Ye partnership put Adidas in a precarious position because of the popularity of the Yeezy line, and it faced growing pressure to end ties last year as other companies cut off the rapper.
Asked whether it must pay Kanye West royalties on the shoes, the company has said only that it will observe all its contractual obligations.
Yeezy revenue from June was “largely in line” with sales seen in the second quarter of last year, Adidas said.
