Kasper Rørsted

Kanye West Proclaims Adidas CEO ‘Dead’ In Mock Newspaper After Brand Friction

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kanye west adidas

Kanye West, never the one to shy away from a public feud, adds Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted to his long list of enemies.

The design executive and artist posted a mock New York Times headline to his social media, reading “Kasper Rorsted Also Dead At 60″ and captioned the photo “God Loves Us.” 

The post, a nod to a similar attack he shared about Kim Kardashian’s ex Pete Davidson, has since been removed. 

Hostility has been rising between Ye, 45, and Adidas for some time, after the company launched “Yeezy Day” without his approval, letting fans get previously-released versions of his shoes. He’s also publicly accused the sportswear brand of stealing design ideas from him for their “Adilette” slides. 

READ MORE: Why Is Kanye West’s Yeezy GAP Line Displayed In Trash Bags?

Just a day earlier West went on the attack against clothing company GAP, saying the brand kept him out of meetings and also stole designs from him.

Even though his contract is up in 2026, last week Adidas announced Kasper was leaving the company in 2023. He started with the brand in 2016, according to CNBC.

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The post Kanye West Proclaims Adidas CEO ‘Dead’ In Mock Newspaper After Brand Friction appeared first on The Source.

Kanye West Gives Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted The Pete Davidson Treatment By Also Declaring Him Dead On Instagram

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Kanye West NYC 2022
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Kanye West has made many enemies over the last few years, and through all of the drama, at least all seemed well with his creative collaborator Adidas. However, it appears there is some tension in that relationship now as Ye has given Adidas CEO Karper Rorsted the same treatment he gave Pete Davison, by pronouncing him dead on Instagram.

Kanye West Newspaper
Kanye West

In a now-deleted post from early Thursday (September 1), the Donda artist posted a New York Times graphic where the front page reads “Karper Rorsted Also Dead At 66.” The sudden anger toward Rorsted likely stems from the fact the Chicago artist claims the company held “Yeezy Day” without his approval back in August, Complex reported.

Kanye IG Rant August
Kanye West

He also alleges that Adidas reissued older pairs of his products without his input, hired employees without his input, and slowed down the production of his sneaker collaboration with Balenciaga and Gap despite the fact he was in breach of his contract. If that isn’t enough, West claims he approached Three Stripes to create and distribute more of his popular Yeezy Slides, only for the brand to say “they didn’t have the capacity” only to copy his design and make the Adilette 22 Slides.

Kanye West cannot seem to avoid controversy or pushing people away, so time will tell how the relationship will continue as the situation unfolds.

Check out Kanye’s Instagram post about Karper Rorsted above.

Why Is Kanye West Upset With Adidas And Gap?

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kanye adidas gap beef
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

Kanye West is rapidly becoming as well known for this growing list of enemies as he is for his music. What has been even more notable, however, has been just who he’s added to that list, which previously included musical rival Drake and now includes his former protege Kid Cudi and romantic rival Pete Davidson.

However, while he’s got inscrutable though understandable reasons for all of the above, fans can’t help but be confused as Kanye sets his sights on Adidas and Gap — two corporations with which his Yeezy brand is partnered, contributing to his touted billionaire status. For the past few months, the mercurial producer turned designer has been lashing out at his creative partners, from posting a fake headline trolling Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted to accusing Gap of holding meetings about him without him.

So, why is Kanye so upset with Adidas and Gap?

The crux appears to be Kanye’s expectations of his partnerships with these companies and how they have failed to meet them in his eyes. In June, he posted an angry Instagram, calling Adidas’ Adilette 22 slides “fake Yeezys” for being too similar to the Yeezy slides. Then, in early August, he DMed Complex on Instagram, telling the account’s admin that he hadn’t approved Adidas’ Yeezy Day campaign. Meanwhile, fans were dumbfounded when he apparently ordered Gap store employees to yank his Yeezy collection from their shelves and hangers to present them in large, black garbage bags.

Now, he’s expressing plans to open his own independent Yeezy brand stores — something he said they are contractually obligated to do, but refuse to. Basically, he’s unhappy that both companies have made products that are similar in form and function to Yeezy designs while also following traditional business models in lieu of following his more radical intentions.

It remains to be seen if the leadership at either company — Rørsted is stepping down as CEO sometime this year — continues to put up with his agitating for very much longer. One thing is sure: Kanye is an unpredictable business partner who isn’t afraid to publicly air his grievances, whether it’s good business or not.

Kanye West Takes Another Swipe At Kid Cudi In A Post Declaring Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted ‘Dead At 60’

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Kanye West may have dialed down his Instagram petty to only celebrating his perceived enemies’ supposed failures, but he’s packing double the vitriol in those posts, often lashing out at two in the same post. His preferred secondary target is Kid Cudi, who he zings in the subheadlines of the bizarre fake New York Times covers he has been posting to strike out at rivals such as Pete Davidson and Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted.

In his latest post, he declares the latter “also dead at 60,” calling back to his post about Pete. In the subheadline, though, he throws two jabs at once, writing, “I know what you’re thinking… who is Kasper? but even less importantly who is Kid Cudi?”

kanye west instagram kid cudi kasper rorsted
Instagram

Actually, I was thinking how badly Kanye needs a copy editor, but I digress. In Kanye’s previous dig at his former artist, Kanye sniped at him for cutting his Rolling Loud set short after fans threw objects onstage. “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers,” he trolled. His latest shot is likely a response he’s been sitting on since Cudi told Esquire he has no plans to reconcile with his former mentor.

“With all due respect, I’m not Drake,” he said. “It’s gonna take a motherf*cking miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk.” Cudi later clarified that he meant no disrespect to Drake, with whom he previously did have a feud but they’ve since made up.

Kanye’s beef with Rørsted, meanwhile, stems from his belief that the Adidas chief is responsible for the company seemingly distancing itself from Kanye while continuing to use his designs, which is not in any way Kanye’s own fault for acting like a colicky toddler for the past year or so. Rørsted is stepping down as CEO sometime this year. May whoever succeeds him finally drop Kanye so he can enjoy his creative freedom, or whatever.

Kanye West Calls Adidas’ New Shoe A ‘Fake Yeezy,’ Accusing CEO Kasper Rørsted Of ‘Blatant Copying’

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Kanye West isn’t happy about Adidas’ new shoe, calling out the company’s CEO over “blatant copying” and calling the Adilette 22 slides ” a fake Yeezy made by Adidas themselves.” After deleting his first-quarter shenanigans from Instagram, it looked like he’d return to using the platform primarily to showcase his creative endeavors, like this weird McDonald’s packaging redesign. That lasted less than a month; he returned today to post a screenshot of the Adilette (apparently taken from a sneaker interest site) and lambast the German shoe manufacturer, despite the fact that they’ve been his design partner since 2015.

“THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on,” he wrote. “Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now To Kasper I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can’t cause they’ll loose their contract or be called crazy Bravery is not being afraid Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth This Ye with the blue paint on my face These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves I’m not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me Happy Monday”

kanye west adidas adilette yeezy copy
Instagram

… Look, man. Not to be that guy, but… Pot, meet kettle. Remember Nike’s Roshe silhouette? That year you couldn’t go anywhere without running into 500 pairs of those things on everyone’s feet from hardcore sneakerheads to errand-running girl dads. Then, Kanye switched teams from Nike because he didn’t like the terms of his partnership there, only to go to Adidas and drop the Yeezy Boost 350 — which looks almost exactly like Nike Roshes, despite his claim that it’s the “most iconic shoe of the past 15 years.” (Let’s not even get into how Walmart sued him because his new Yeezy Gap logo looks just like Walmart’s or how people thought the original Yeezy Slides look just like Crocs.)

Anyway, I’m sure this will lead to all kinds of chaos in the sneaker world this week, so if you’re an enthusiast (or a recovering one), buckle up. There could be some seismic shifts in the future.