Kanye West condemned former business partner Adidas for selling “fake Yeezys” and allegedly suing him on Monday (February 26). The controversial artist urged his true fans to not buy Yeezys from Adidas in a social media rant.
“Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys,” he wrote on Instagram. “I never made these color ways I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me. All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing As far as the system goes What yall gone do now Take my album down again Freeze my accounts again Threaten people to not work with me again All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.”
Kanye quickly followed up his written tirade with a video. He claimed Adidas was suing him for $250 million as he reused the word “rape” to describe the situation.
“Let me explain really clear to you guys what’s happening with Adidas,” he said in the clip. “Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are non-approved, they’re suing me for $250 million. And they’re also not paying me for these shoes that they’re putting out that have my name on it. And they’re using contract clauses and 50 years of business to experience to rape an artist, one of y’all’s favorite artists, right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”
Adidas severed ties with Kanye over his antisemitic remarks and other offensive statements in 2022. The company just began a third sale of its remaining Yeezy inventory, hoping to avoid a complete loss for the unsold shoes.