Adidas plans to donate the proceeds from the sales of Ye shoes formaly known as Kanye West to charitable foundations. The company cut off ties with Yeezy, after he made multiple antisemitic comments.
The German sportswear said on Thursday that it would sell off its leftover Yeezy gear for charitable causes.
The Bavaria-based company terminated its partnership in October with the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after he made a slew of offensive and antisemitic remarks.
This resulted in appoximately €1.2 billion (1.3 billion) of unsold Yeezy-branded shoes with an uncertain future.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden told investors in Germany that burning the gear “is not the solution”
“What we will try to do over time is to sell part of these goods and to donate the money to organizations that help us and which also have been hurt by Kanye’s statements,” he said
Gulden said Adidas would not donate the shoes outright, due to fears that they may end up on the market in a roundabout way.
Media reports suggest that the selling of the Yeezy gear would in fact help Ye financially, however. Due to a previous agreement between Adidas and Ye, the rapper would receive commissions worth 15% of turnover.