Kanye West used to have a very lucrative deal with Adidas. Overall, the Yeezy brand was extremely strong and was responsible for just how successful Adidas was in the industry. However, once Ye started spewing anti-semitic remarks, it became clear that they needed to cut ties. Unfortunately for Adidas, this left a $1.3 billion hole in the company. Since that time, the brand has tried to let go of its Yeezy stock, and so far, it has proven to be extremely successful.
Given everything that has happened between these two, you would expect Adidas and its CEO, Bjorn Gulden, to be upset. However, that is very much not the case. Instead, Gulden is taking all of this in stride. In fact, while speaking on the In Good Company podcast, Gulden was very complimentary of the rapper. He even noted how sometimes, having to get rid of a collaborator is just the cost of doing business. "when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game. That can happen with an athlete, with an entertainer. It’s part of the business," Gulden said.
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Bjorn Gulden Defends Kanye West
From there, Gulden explained how Kanye is a creative genius and that what he did with Adidas was simply spectacular. “I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and what I would call street culture. He’s extremely creative," Gulden noted. Subsequently, he claimed that he believes Ye does not actually agree with what he has said about Jewish people in the media. "I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person, it just came across that way," Gulden remarked.
Most people probably wouldn't give Ye this kind of benefit of the doubt. Especially not if they were the CEO of Adidas, who now has to oversee massive revenue losses. Regardless, it seems like Gulden might be open to collaborating with Ye again in the future. Only time will tell whether or not that is actually in the cards.
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