After severing ties with Ye in 2022, athletic apparel company Adidas returned its Yeezy products to its website for sale. That decision proved wise, as Adidas received more orders than anticipated due to the high demand for the shoe.
According to Insider, the sports brand has received orders reportedly worth 508 million euros ($564 million). That beats any estimates the company forecasted before deciding to make the product available for sale. Adidas initially planned to write the Yeezy product off for $500 million. Shareholder pressure made the company change direction earlier in 2023.
The demand for the Yeezy product is so high that not all requests for the shoe can be processed, according to a report by Financial Times.
While no figures or percentages were disclosed, Adidas stated that a portion of the sales from Yeezys would go toward fighting discrimination, hate, racism, and antisemitism.
Organizations expected to benefit from the sale of Yeezys include the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, among others.
The Yeezy products available on the website were existing designs that were supposed to go on sale in 2023 before Adidas terminated its agreement with the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
After being in a successful business relationship with Ye for nearly 10 years, Adidas cut ties with the controversial music producer after he made anti-Semitic statements.
In 2022, when Ye appeared on Revolt’s “Drink Champs” podcast that has since been deleted online, he dared the apparel company to act when he said, “I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”
Adidas did exactly that shortly after Ye’s statements were brought to light.
