Kanye West, now known as Ye, is once again at odds with Adidas, the apparel giant with which he collaborated on the iconic Yeezy sneaker line. This time, the dispute revolves around what Ye claims are “fake” Yeezys. The rapper also went to Instagram to complain that Adidas has filed a hefty lawsuit filed against him.
The controversy ignited when Adidas announced its plans to release the “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2, a colorway that Ye alleges he never approved. The shoe is dropping on Feb. 29 at $230, Complex reported.
On Feb. 26, Ye called out Adidas for selling these unauthorized designs, labeling them as “fake” and emphasizing that he isn’t receiving any compensation for them. Moreover, Ye asserted that Adidas is suing him for a staggering $250 million, adding fuel to the already fiery dispute.
Kanye Explains
“Let me explain really clear what’s really happening with Adidas. Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” he says in the video. And they’re also not paying me for these shoes that they are putting out that have my name on it … they are using contract clauses … to rape an artist … right in front of ya’ll.”
In a separate Instagram post, he wrote: “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys I never made these color ways I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me” along with a screenshot of a photo of the footwear, Billboard reported. “All the new non-approved 350’s are cooorny and everybody know the 350 been corny.”
Adidas has yet to comment on the matter. But the shoe giant has made a ton of money from the brand. In the third quarter of 2023 alone, Adidas pulled in $374 million in sales, according to Fortune. The first Yeezy Adidas shoe model (“Boost 750”) was released in February 2015. In 2020, Forbes described Yeezy’s ability to compete with Air Jordan for “sneaker world supremacy” within just a short period of time as “one of the great retail stories of the century.” While that outlet said West was receiving an 11 percent royalty cut, there have also been reports that he had a 15 percent cut.
The partnership ended in 2022, amidst a series of controversial remarks made by Ye, including anti-Semitic comments.
Since then, Adidas has been selling off the remaining Yeezy inventory.
So far, there have been no reports about the lawsuit Kanye is speaking out.
