YZY 350s Archives - New Hip Hop News

Is Adidas Still Selling Kanye West’s Yeezy Sneakers?

They sure are.

Last May, it was revealed that Adidas had decided to sell off their remaining Yeezy stock after terminating their partnership with West. Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said at the time, “What we are trying to do now over time is sell parts of this inventory and donate money to the organizations that are helping us and that were also hurt by Kanye’s statements.”

That decision ended up paying off financially: That August, it was reported the company had brought in nearly half a billion dollars from the Yeezy inventory.

Then, today (February 26), the company announced additional releases of existing Yeezy products. West didn’t take this news well, writing on Instagram, “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys. I never made these colorways. I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me. All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing. As far as the system goes What yall gone do now? Take my album down again? Freeze my accounts again? Threaten people to not work with me again? All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.”

In early 2023, after discontinuing its partnership with Kanye West and his Yeezy brand, Adidas announced that it had reached an agreement to continue selling YZY-branded shoes without West’s involvement. The deal was intended to help Adidas liquidate nearly $1 billion in unsold merchandise as an alternative to destroying it. In August, it was reported that the first batch of YZYs sold turned around nearly $500 million in sales for a quarter of the warehoused goods, donating a portion of the profit to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.

With Adidas announcing its next run of releases, though, it looks like Mr. West is very upset about his lack of involvement. Commenting on an Instagram fan page’s post about the announcement, Kanye absolutely unloaded on Adidas’ leadership, complaining about his public treatment over the last year and a half (which was entirely self-induced, it must be noted).

“Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys,” he wrote. “I never made these colorways. I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me. All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing. As far as the system goes What yall gone do now? Take my album down again? Freeze my accounts again? Threaten people to not work with me again? All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.”

According to sources with knowledge of the deal, though, West rarely attended meetings to give approvals, so… again… maybe don’t throw rocks and complain about all the glass. The lawsuit he refers to here was over $100 million the company delivered to him for marketing purposes which he secreted away into other accounts for other Yeezy projects and has yet to return. Adidas, meanwhile, is being sued by its own shareholders over his actions.