Adidas to investigate claims Kanye West showed porn videos to staff
The troubles for rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, continue. A month after his anti-semitism remarks caused his temporary lockout of Instagram and Twitter and the loss of major partnerships, West is reportedly under investigation.
READ: Kanye West says he lost US$2 billion in one day after anti-semitic outbursts
According to Yahoo, Ye’s former business partner Adidas is launching an investigation into accusations of misconduct.
According to a Rolling Stone article published on Tuesday, an open letter sent by former employees of Yeezy Adidas’ executive board members and CEO “insists that leaders from Adidas were aware of West’s ‘problematic behaviour’ but ‘turned their moral compass off,’ raising questions about whether his corporate partner could have stepped in years ago.”
In a statement released Thursday, following the article, Adidas said “it is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true. However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations.”
In addition, the letter, obtained by Rolling Stone says: “(Kanye) has, in years past, exploded at women in the room with offensive remarks, and would resort to sexually disturbing references when providing design feedback. This type of response from a brand partner is one that Adidas employees should never be subjected to, nor should Adidas leadership ever tolerate.”
The Rolling Stone article referenced incidents, including playing pornographic videos to various staff during meetings, showing an intimate photograph of Kim Kardashian in job interviews, and showing explicit videos and photos of Kardashian as well as his own sex tapes to Yeezy team members.
According to reports, the loss of West’s lucrative Adidas partnership alone has knocked the rapper off Forbes’ billionaire list. In April, the American business magazine released its annual report on billionaires with Ye valued at $2 billion. Forbes declared in October that without Adidas, the rapper is worth $400 million as the partnership accounted for nearly $1.5 billion of his net worth.
The rapper has spoken about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which mental health experts have noted can explain why he may make provocative comments – but does not excuse them.
