Kanye West has been a controversial figure almost as long as he’s been making music. For a long time, he walked the tightrope between musical genius, and the guy whose outbursts (about George Bush not liking Black people, for example. Or Beyonce having the best music video of all time – you know the one) saw him teeter dangerously close to cultural pariah. Following his divorce from Kim Kardashian, the Yeezy artist – officially now known as Ye – seems to have plunged headfirst into the abyss.

Whether he’s courting controversy or genuinely believes his antisemitic comments is difficult to tell, but like a petulant child he has doubled down, speaking in praise of Hitler, and calling himself a Nazi. If it is a joke, it’s doubtful anyone will stick around long enough to hear the punchline, much less forgive him.

So, while Kanye’s career and reputation are in free-fall, his business partners – specifically Adidas – were left with a huge supply of back-stock they could no longer sell. There was an ethical consideration too: with Kanye due to net a healthy portion of any profits, 

Writing for GQ, Joshua Hunt addresses this conundrum in a piece titled 

 (the emphasis, you’ll note is on Yeezy, not Ye.) The German company’s plan began with a new CEO, and ended, in late May, with a direct to consumer sale of four colourways for the Yeezy 350 v2, plus various other shoe models, including foam runners and slides. Despite Kanye’s cancellation, sneaker fans remained hungry, and the sale netted Adidas an estimated $500m.

Adidas partnered with Ye in 2013 and parted ways with him in October 2022, after he declared he could say antisemitic comments and they couldn’t do a thing about it. Well, checkmate. But, even after dropping Kanye, Adidas continued to make Yeezy products. Combined with existing stock, it left them with an inventory of $1.3bn that they couldn’t shift.

According to Morgan Stanley, Yeezy products previously made up more than 40 percent of Adidas profits. With Covid and the war in Ukraine seeing further slashes to the company’s revenue, new CEO Bjørn Gulden decided something had to be done, and that all options would be fully explored.

Gulden, formerly of Puma, took over as CEO in January. As far as he saw it, there were two options: destroy the Yeezy inventory – which would be catastrophic from a sustainability standpoint; or sell off the stock and make an estimated profit of €500m.

Either choice entailed a reputational risk, especially as brands are increasingly held up to the moral and ethical standards of their consumers. For Adidas, there was an extra layer of complication; its founder Adi Dassler had been a member of the Nazi party, and even supplied the Hitler Youth with sports equipment. Given this, getting as far away as possible from Ye’s comments may have been the best option.

The way to offset the unfortunate Nazi-ness of the whole thing, as Gulden saw it, was to donate part of the profits of the Yeezy sale to organisations acting on behalf of groups hurt by Kanye’s statements. Kanye nevertheless bagged 11 percent royalties for every shoe sold in May, a figure Bloomberg estimates at $150m (other estimates have gone for $25m).

Whatever the figure, this is a significant amount for Kanye to earn at a time when he’s supposed to have been ostracised from the culture as punishment for his transgressions. It’s unknown what percentage of profits has gone to charitable institutions, but it’s unlikely any amount could undo the damage Kanye has done by so openly endorsing such a hateful ideology.

Whether or not Adidas will sell off more Yeezy inventory remains to be seen, but it seems likely. May’s sale may well have been a testing of the waters. So far, fans are happy to purchase the in-demand shoes, Kim Kardashian still wears Yeezys to soccer practice, and Adidas is still making money. How you feel about the Yeezy sale is up to you. Ultimately, it comes down to the much-debated question of when someone does something terrible, can we separate the art from the artist? Or, in the world of business, will profit conquer all?

Introducing Gusari, the British brand shaking up your holiday gear 

The best new grooming products of the week

Saint Laurent and Anthony Vaccarello are taking over Cannes Film Festival