Adidas shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit against the sportswear brand – the lawsuit alleges that Adidas officials ‘intended to deceive’ investors by failing to disclose ongoing issues between the company and ‘Ye‘.
In the lawsuit, shareholders allege that Adidas ‘routinely ignored’ his behavior as early as 2018.
It was filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon — Portland is home to the German company’s North American headquarters.
They claim that senior executives ‘ignored serious issues’ affecting the Yeezy partnership, namely his antisemitic remarks and troubling public comments about slavery.
The lawsuit cites a report by The Wall Street Journal in November 2022 that cited people familiar with the matter and documents it reviewed.
According to the newspaper’s report, Adidas executives, including Rorsted, had discussed the risk of Ye’s behavior and considered cutting ties with him.
The lawsuit said that Adidas was aware of his behavior and that the company ‘failed to take meaningful precautionary measures to limit negative financial exposure’ if the partnership ended.
Adidas’ Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer and former CEO Kasper Rørsted are named as defendants.
The lawsuit doesn’t name the rapper, who now goes by Ye.
The suit covers anyone who bought an Adidas share from May 3, 2018 (when Ye made the slavery remark) until 2023.
Adidas responding to the lawsuit released a statement saying: ‘We outright reject these unfounded claims and will take all necessary measures to vigorously defend ourselves against them’.
Adidas (ADDDF) ended its almost decade-long partnership with Eest in October 2022 after Ye wore a ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirt in public.
The company said in February that it was expected to lose $1.3 billion in revenue this year because it’s unable to sell the designer’s Yeezy clothing and shoes
