Adidas has announced that they won't stop selling Yeezys - despite cutting ties with designer Kanye West.
According to a report by Insider, the German company has reiterated that it owns the designs which were produced in partnership with the rapper.
Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer said: "Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights registered to existing product."
"We intend to make use of these rights as early as 2023," he continued, adding that Adidas owns "all the versions and new colorways. It's our IP."
While Adidas may be determined to continue selling Yeezy design sneakers under new branding, they may not be able to do the same thing with Yeezy Slides. Per Insider, West owns the patent for the Yeezy Slide design.
The sporting brand ended its lucrative partnership with West last month after the rapper became embroiled in controversy over a series of tweets that many deemed to be antisemitic.
"I'm a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE," the 'Famous' artist tweeted.
Following the controversial comment, Adidas announced in a statement that they were cutting ties with West, slamming his words as "unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous".
"Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech," they announced, adding: "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness."
The statement continued: "After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy-branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect."
At the time Adidas said it expected the decision to have a “short-term negative impact of up to 250 million euro on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter”.
Meanwhile, the sportswear giant isn't the only brand to distance itself from West in the wake of his anti-semitic comments. Fashion house Balenciaga also cut ties with the rapper, as did Gap, Peloton, and T.J. Maxx.
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