In an open letter to the Adidas management, published in the music magazine Rolling Stone, former Yeezy team members accuse Adidas of having been “huge enablers” of a Yeezy brand owner Kayne West’s “problematic behavior.” The letter and employee interviews repeatedly mention West showing pornography in meetings, making sexual references to shoe designs to subordinates, especially females and yelling at employees. Rolling Stone pointed out that in October, amid the termination of his Adidas contract, West posted a 30-minute documentary on YouTube in which he showed pornographic material to two Adidas executives. After publicly distancing himself from such material, other behaviors led to complaints, such as West’s decision in 2019 to move much of the brand from Los Angeles County to his ranch in Cody, Wyoming, causing about 90 employees to commute from LA or Adidas headquarters in Portland, Oregon, or relocate to Wyoming. Employees classified the various behaviors as attempts to gain psychological control over employees.
More about the letter “The Truth About Yeezy: A Call to Action for Adidas Leadership,” which was obtained exclusively by Rolling Stone, can be read on the magazine’s website.
