Adidas has recently warned that the company could possibly suffer its first annual operating loss in 31 years since severing ties with Kanye West. According to the sportswear brand, it may have to write off the entire range of Yeezy-branded merchandise. Updated By: Nicole Bartley (3/8/23 at 1:45 pm) Since Ye’s business fallouts due to […]
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Kanye West and his Yeezy brand were a huge moneymaker for Adidas. Overall, Ye was able to turn Adidas into one of the most fashion-forward sportswear brands in the world. After years of stagnancy, Yeezy uplifted Adidas to the point where they were doing more sales than Jordan Brand. However, that has all changed now that Kanye is no longer with the brand. Of course, you can’t really fault Adidas for the decision when you consider how Ye was siding with the Nazis and professing his love for Hitler. At some point, you have no choice but to pull the plug.
That said, Adidas has taken a very large hit in terms of its financials. In numerous reports, it has been noted that the German brand is holding on to $530 million worth of Yeezys. Moreover, these Yeezys still have the Yeezy branding on them, which means they cannot sell the shoes without Ye’s consent. Just a few weeks ago, rumors circulated saying that both sides had reached an agreement on selling these kicks. However, nothing actually materialized from that.
Now, according to CNBC, Adidas is facing some catastrophic losses. Their fourth-quarter numbers show an operating loss of around $760 million. Additionally, this includes a net loss of about $500 million. Dividends for shareholders will likely go from $3.50 to about $0.80, which is certainly not a good sign. Lastly, Adidas is projecting its net operations losses for the year to be $700 million. The last time the brand operated at a loss was about 31 years ago.
Overall, this is a bad sign for Adidas, and they will have to figure out some sort of plan of attack. The sportswear and sneaker games can be difficult, and it is all about trends and image. If Adidas can’t show people that it is still a hip imprint, then it could be facing an extremely difficult road. However, it should be noted that these operations losses include the $500 million in Yeezys that cannot be sold. Either way, this is going to be a story to follow over the next few months.
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At this point, we’re all well aware of Kanye West consistently being in the headlines over the past few years. More often than not, these headlines haven’t been music-related. Whether it be his controversial comments or wild business decisions, it’s difficult to pinpoint what move Ye may make next. However, there’s no denying his ambition as a creative in a variety of lanes. From fashion to music, the majority of his net worth has come from his various clothing deals with Fortune-500 brands. However, that reputation has come to a grueling halt over the past year.
We’ve heard next to nothing on the musical front from Ye. Since releasing ‘Donda 2’ at the outset of 2022, he appears to have gone on a hiatus. However, a track titled “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” an unreleased snippet seeing Ye address his controversy, was circling around the Internet in December of last year. Speaking on his fallout with Kim Kardashian and his anti-Semitic comments, he’s unapologetic about his actions. While we’ve heard snippets or unreleased cuts, it appears that his focus has shifted amidst swirling controversies and fallouts.
Ye’s actions were questionable (at best) in 2022. The multi-creative hyphenate facing uncompromising scrutiny for what seemed like the entire year. From his public anti-Semitic remarks to sporting a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt at Paris Fashion Week, the results were damning for his reputation. With companies such as Balenciaga, Adidas, GAP, and Vogue reading the room of their audience, they would soon thereafter cut ties with Ye. According to Forbes, Ye’s net worth has crumbled over the past 12 months. In addition, Ye is paying around $200k per month to Kim Kardashian since their divorce. Once worth approximately $2.5 billion, that amount is now reportedly $400 million.
The Chicago-born rapper and producer certainly hasn’t been happy with reported estimations of his net worth. In the past, he’s claimed to be worth almost 3x of his reported valuation. However, this has never been proven. Back in 2021, Forbes refuted numerous unfounded claims about his wealth. At the time, there were reports circling that Kanye was worth around $7 billion after his successful collaboration with Gap, and that he was the wealthiest black man in the America. However, there was never any concrete prove of this net worth. Many of the claimed assets that would’ve set his valuation closer to $7 billion were later proven not to fall under his name. Additionally, the richest black man in America title falls to Robert F Smith, the Founder/CEO of a private equity firm worth over $5 billion.
It’s been a far more quiet year thus far for Ye. As of March 5th, he ended his hiatus from Instagram with a post of Balenciaga’s most recent collection. It’s unclear whether this was meant to be a mocking or endorsing of their new drop, as they were one of multiple companies to end their partnership with Ye. Captioning the photo “Write a caption…”, fans flooded the comment section with questions about where Ye has been over the past few months.
On the business end, there’ve recently been spiraling rumors about the relationship between Kanye West and Adidas. Various outlets were claiming that the two parties had come to a re-agreement to do business together in February. However, there’s been no evidence to back this up since those reports. On the other hand, the New York Post reported that Adidas is considering eating their losses from the Yeezy brand and moving on from Ye completely.
Kanye certainly isn’t one to marinate on ideas for too long. If he has an idea, he’s going to go for it. As a result, he hasn’t made his shortage of questionable business decisions over the past few years. Opting to take the reigns of executing his ideas, he’s proven not to be an easy person to work with. The openly bipolar artist has received criticism about his business being “cult-like.” He often makes questionable demands of his business partners. For example, he wanted all of his workers to permanently relocate to his property in Cody, Wyoming back in 2021.
From his grandeur plans for the Yeezy Campus to Donda Sports Agency, Ye has had a variety of business ventures that haven’t panned out over the past years. The Donda Sports Agency went up in flames back in October, with the likes of Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald pulling out amidst his controversial actions. In addition, the company that Ye collaborated with to make the Stem Player come to life (Kano Computing) are continuing with operations of the Stem Player without Ye. Essentially, Ye’s comments have alienated him from the ability to work with the right minds.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s firstborn daughter, North West, might be the biggest Ice Spice fan in the world. In the past few months, North’s appreciation for the “Munch” rapper has been on full display across her social media. She revealed that she inherited Ye’s artistic penchant when she drew a picture of Ice Spice. In addition to paying homage to the Bronx Baddie, they recently linked up at Kim’s home where they filmed a few TikToks together.
The apparent result of their link-up was a newly shared video of North West dressed up as Ice Spice. Ye’s daughter donned an orange wig similar to Spice’s hair, along with a white tracksuit, as she and her friends rapped along to her verse on PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s A Liar Pt 2.” The clip caught the internet off-guard with feelings that ranged from disappointment to adoration. However, there were many that brought up comments from Kanye West last year. During his divorce, Ye stated that he didn’t want his daughter on the social media platform.
As North’s TikTok went viral, Twitter began to debate whether or not it was appropriate for a 9-year-old to be singing along to Ice Spice. With sexualized lyrics like, “Bet he blowin’ her back / Thinkin’ ’bout me ’cause he know that it’s fat,” many felt as though Ye might have had a point when he blasted the social media platform last year. In a since-deleted video, Ye explained he didn’t want his daughter exposed to the platform. “I just got off the phone with Kim. I told her to stop antagonizing me with this TikTok thing… I’m not allowing my daughter to be used by TikTok, to be used by Disney. I have a say so,” he said.
The video of North divided the internet. Many felt like Ice Spice is unlike the average 9-year-old exposed to pop culture. At the same time, many believed that the public treated Kanye West unfairly during the time he criticized Kim for allowing their daughter to have a TikTok page. “Kanye is clearly a good father who is only trying to protect his children from the social media world. For that, he’ll be shamed on Twitter with no ability to defend himself,” one user said. Another user mocked those defending Ye, writing, “‘Kanye was right’ N***a you never played dress up in your life as a kid?”
Kanye West is officially back on Instagram. Ye posted an image from the Balenciaga Winter 2023 Fashion show and left the caption up to fans. “Write a caption,” Ye wrote.
The post comes after Ye is rumored to have entered into an agreement with Adidas to sell the remaining stock of their clothing collaboration. There has been no official confirmation that a deal is in place. As for the featured Balenciaga, all quiet on that front too.
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It appears Ye’s daughter North West has found a new role model. The nine-year-old recently broke the internet again. This time, with rising rap star Ice Spice. Kanye West’s daughter North West has recently taken an interest in rising rapper Ice Spice. The two seemed to have formed a strong bond during the Rolling Loud […]
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North West has emerged as a major Ice Spice fan, as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s 9-year-old daughter made a pretty great drawing of the rapper and even linked up with Ice Spice herself and made some TikTok videos. Now, though, North’s newest batch of TikTok posts is stirring up some conversations.
In a series of posts shared today (March 6), North dons a curly orange wig and an Ice Spice-like outfit as she and friends dance and mouth along to Ice Spice TikTok sounds. Here’s one of those videos, which is set to Ice Spice and PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”:
This clip and the others have spawned multiple varieties of discourse. Some Twitter users took exception to 9-year-old North listening to a song with sexual lyrics like, “Sayin’ he home, but I know where he at, like / Bet he blowin’ her back / Thinkin’ ’bout me ’cause he know that it’s fat.” In response to that, others pointed out that kids have been hearing suggestive popular tunes for decades now.
Did she just quote Ice Spice saying “blowing her back”…Kanye gon lose his shit smh pic.twitter.com/pUprsjcvgc
— Zotwalu (@zotwalu) March 6, 2023
I can’t lie north west is like every other kid! Let’s not act we didn’t tie up our tops and whine against the wall copying Christina, Britney, Pussycat dolls, Jlo and Beyoncé etc
— Mimi The Music Blogger (@mdaixo) March 6, 2023
I cannot judge north west for loving ice spice when I was 3 years old rapping along to Hail Mary and my parents bought me Usher’s my way album in elementary school
— The Neighborhood Publicist (@nhoodpublicist) March 6, 2023
Some people resurfaced an older video of Kanye talking about TikTok (with some re-sharers inaccurately billing it as Kanye’s response specifically to North’s Ice Spice fascination). In the video, Kanye vents his frustrations about North’s TikTok activity and how he doesn’t want her to be “used” by the platform.
When Kanye West said it pic.twitter.com/cmsoj58a78
— World Latin Honey (@WorldLatinHoney) March 6, 2023
Some people stood in solidarity with Kanye, like one user who wrote, “Kanye was right and y’all just ignorant. no way you see a actual child dressing up like a Sexualized rapper who makes music about sexualized things cute and funny. It’s disgusting.”
Kanye was right and y’all just ignorant
no way you see a actual child dressing up like a Sexualized rapper who makes music about sexualized things cute and funny. It’s disgusting https://t.co/OARmES9zV3
— (40-26) (@SpidaLandCLE) March 6, 2023
Everyone who called Kanye West crazy owes the brother an apology
North’s grandmother has pimped her own daughters out to create a brand so her doing so with grandchildren is no shock https://t.co/sBR73aOZU9
— Mayakaahla Yasharahla (@mmckoyis) March 6, 2023
North herself is hopefully avoiding the discourse altogether, as the ability to comment on her TikTok posts is turned off.
Born on this date in 1974 in the City of Brotherly Love, Dwight Grant aka Beanie Sigel aka Beans morphed into a icon in the Philly Hip Hop scene as the leader of the now defunct Roc-A-Fella Records’ State Property. Even with all of his legal troubles and the untimely split of the Roc, Beanie is still regarded as one of the best emcees of his era and one of the very few who lives what he speaks in the booth.
With six solo albums, three State Property collabos and four silver screen blockbuster appearances, it’s difficult to argue that Beans has not had a successful career. Anyone who was able to hold Hova’s attention for more than one album has some obvious skills to match his street bravado.
Happy born day to Beans and many more in the future!
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Kanye West, 45, is easily one of music’s biggest icons, as his creative genius is both emotionally moving and intellectually developed. Not only do his rhythmic lyrics of poetic rap make him a standout in the music industry, but his many accolades prove he’s one of the greatest, as not many artists articulate their musical ability the way West does. His 4X platinum debut album, The College Dropout, also named to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It showcased West’s musical outlook through his emotive lyrics and layered beats influenced by genres alike. His albums to follow like Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Watch The Throne would soon preview West as the influential artist that he is to this day.
With 22 Grammy awards, West is one of the most decorated artists of our generation. When his first three studio albums were nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, Rolling Stone was quick to name West as one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time alongside artists like Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, and Elton John.
Though the Chicago-based rapper has dedicated most of his life to generating, creating, and producing music, West made the time to become a father of four with entrepreneur and model Kim Kardashian, 42. Focused on his life outside of music like fatherhood and his infamous Sunday Services of praise and prayer, West has taken a step back from the “ultralight beam”. He is now focused on his new relationship with architect and Yeezy designer Bianca Censori, 27.
Currently not only linked but married to Censori, West tied the knot just months after his public divorce from Kardashian. Though West and Censori had a private wedding ceremony, the two have yet to file a marriage certificate. Therefore, their marriage is not completely legal. With a master’s in building design from Melbourne University in Australia, it’s no wonder West is attracted to Censori, as she displays a calm demeanor and knowledgeable intellect, just opposite of West’s extroverted eccentricity. Though the two share their creativity, there’s yet to be much information on the newlyweds other than West’s tribute to his wife in his new song, “Censori Overload“, where he raps, “Waking up to I can’t do this anymore texts, and the Bible said I can’t have any more sex till marriage.”
Before Censori, West was “bound to” Kardashian in a seven-year marriage beginning in 2014 with their destination wedding in Italy. The divorcées share children, North, 9, Saint, 7, Chicago, 5, and Psalm, 3. Though West reportedly bought the mansion across the street from Kardashian’s Calabasas home, Kardashian bought it back from him and states that the two have zero communication in their co-parenting settlement where Kardashian is receiving $200,000 a month from West. Throughout their marriage, Kardashian showed West support in his controversial campaign to run for President, among many other public antics from West. The two seemingly fell for each other long before their relationship started but made a clear break from one another after their divorce was finalized in 2022.
Before West wed his second wife Censori in 2023, he was in a public relationship with model Julia Fox, 32. Fox says that West was very persistent in courting her, saying he would constantly text her. Though she was apprehensive to date another “boring” celebrity, Fox was soon to give in to her feelings for West. Fox claims she was only trying to distract West so he wouldn’t bother Kardashian, but their public relationship seemingly manifested into more than just texting, as Fox states that she and West had many deep conversations about hopes and dreams. Fox ended their relationship after two months due to West regaining his Twitter access and taking to social media again. “I’m not gonna stick around for this s**t,” says Fox in an online rant about the breakup. The two remain on good terms.
Instagram model Chaney Jones, 24, has also been linked to West. The two dated for 5 months after West and Fox broke off their relationship. Facing backlash for dating Jones because she is a close look-alike to Kardashian, Jones and West got pretty close. So close that Jones got the rapper’s name tattooed on her left wrist where it displays “ye.” From courtside basketball games to shopping trips and vacations, the two spent so much time together. They became official over social media where they both gushed about one another on photos posted of them together. The two officially broke it off after West was seen with another woman at the movies. Neither Jones nor West has commented much on the split.
Long before his most recent public relationships, West can be linked to multiple women in Hollywood including entrepreneur Amber Rose, 39, model Irina Shayk, 37, stylist Alexis Phifer, 46, and Pussycat Doll singer Melody Thornton, 38. However, West’s most high-profile relationship was with Rose between 2008 and 2010 before they split to be with other people. West went as far as rapping about the model in multiple songs on his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Rose commented on his lyrics saying, “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll hear songs and I’m like, ‘Oh, he said that about me? No one knows what he’s talking about but me and him. People can’t decipher. They’ll be like, that’s a cool song, and I’m like, that happened to us when we were together.”
Recently, West has been spotted both alone and with his wife Censori. He had a few run-ins with the paparazzi. But it was while he was on his way to support his children. So he wasn’t as sporadic as he tends to be when triggered by the media. Though controversies continue to arise for West, he has solidified a deal with Adidas after he was terminated in 2022 for antisemitic comments. His new deal will allow for the sales of $500 million in Yeezy products to continue.
As of late, the impassioned rapper is only releasing music on his personal platform, Stem Player for $200 stating, “Today artists get just 12 [percent] of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.” West’s last release was Donda 2 in 2022. Though you’ll only be able to listen on Stem Player, West stays adamant on his decision to polarize his platform.
Ye currently has a few lawsuits that he’s dealing with, one of them surrounding the exclusive Donda 2 album. If you recall, the project never landed on streaming services. Instead, Ye chose to exclusively make the album available on his Stem player, which launched alongside 2021’s Donda. Though it wasn’t widely accessible, he’s facing a lawsuit surrounding a sample on Donda 2. “Flowers” uses Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body.” However, the publisher, Ultra International Music Publishing (UIMP), said Ye never received permission to use it in the first place.
UIMP claimed Ye acknowledged the unauthorized use of the sample. They said he “continue[d] to willfully infringe in blatant disregard of UIMP’s rights of ownership.” As a result, UIMP believes Ye made significant profits from the use of the sample. However, the project wasn’t available on streaming services. This could be based on a since-deleted post where Ye said he made millions off of the device. “To earn the $2.2 million we made on the first day on the stem player the album would have had to stream 500 million times,” he wrote. “We did more revenue on stem player, without the album even being out, than we would have done with the album being out on streaming.”
Per All Hip Hop, Ye denied the allegations while his attorney said the Stem Players didn’t make any profits. “[Kanye] specifically denies that he has received any profits from the sale of Stem Players,” his attorney wrote. “Ye admits that there were sales of Stem Players after February 19, 2022, some of which came with Donda 2 preloaded on them. [He] denies that he received any revenue from those sales.”
His attorney also addressed the allegations that he verbally acknowledged the use of “Move Your Body.” “Ye denies that he personally acknowledged in discussions with representatives for Mr. Jefferson and UIMP that ‘Move Your Body’ was sampled in Flowers’ without authorization or payment,” Ye’s lawyer wrote. “Ye further denies that he personally has not ceased distribution of ‘Flowers.’” We’ll see how this pans out for Ye as UIMP seeks $150K in damages for each infringement listed in their lawsuit. We’ll keep you posted.
