Kanye West did not mean antisemitic remarks, Adidas CEO claims

Adidas chief executive Bjørn Gulden has defended controversial rapper and fashion designer Kanye West over antisemitic remarks that his employer previously described as “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.

“I don’t think he meant what he said,” Gulden, who joined the German sportswear maker in January, told a Norwegian podcast. He added: “I don’t think he’s a bad person.”

Adidas cut ties with West after his series of antisemitic remarks caused a public outcry. Gulden joined the German company from rival Puma after the Yeezy brand was terminated and was not involved in discussions about the matter.

Last October, the German group said that it did not “tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech” and stressed that West, also known as Ye, had violated “the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness”.

Gulden called the matter “unfortunate” as it “meant we lost that business”. Adidas’s decision to ditch the Yeezy brand wiped out about €1.2bn in annual sales and €500mn in operating profit. This summer, Adidas started to sell the remaining stock of unsold Yeezy shoes, adding it will donate some of the proceeds to charities that fight antisemitism and hate speech.

Employees later accused Adidas of having turned a blind eye to West’s inappropriate behaviour, claiming that he allegedly played pornography to staff in meetings and showed an intimate picture of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian in job interviews. Rolling Stone magazine reported last year that former employees claimed in a letter that senior managers were aware of West’s “problematic behaviour” and tolerated “years of verbal abuse, vulgar tirades, and bullying attacks”.

An internal investigation by Adidas did not find evidence for the gravest allegations but uncovered “partially inappropriate behaviour” by West, the company later said.

In a podcast with the head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Nicolai Tangen, that was published earlier this month, Gulden seemed to describe West’s antisemitic remarks as the antics of a creative maverick. “As creative people, he did some statements that were not that good,” he said, praising the rapper and fashion designer as “one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and what I would call street culture.”

The Guardian first reported Gulden’s remarks in the podcast.

Gulden subsequently told the Financial Times: “Adidas’ decision [to end the partnership with Ye] was absolutely appropriate and our attitude has not changed,” declining to comment further.