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Kanye makes $25 million from first release of unsold Yeezys

Adidas has unsold Yeezys with a selling value of more than $500 million of which Ye will receive 15 percent.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner

Kanye West, who now legally goes by Ye, is reportedly still pocketing a large amount from his partnership with Adidas even though the German athletic apparel and footwear company terminated its working relationship with the Grammy Award-winning rapper after he made a series of antisemitic comments last year.

Adidas announced in May its plans to sell all remaining inventory of Yeezy merchandise designed by Ye, and that a portion of proceeds would go to charities that combat discrimination, hate, racism and antisemitism, including the Anti-Defamation League.

Ye, who experienced a massive decline in his net worth after Adidas terminated their partnership, will still reportedly receive 15 percent of all Yeezy sales by Adidas, according to Complex magazine. He began working with Adidas in 2013 on his Yeezy line of sneakers.

Adidas has unsold Yeezys with a selling value of more than $500 million of which Ye will receive 15 percent.

The company began selling once again Yeezy products on June 1 and on the first day alone 682,300 pairs of Yeezy shoes were released, selling for a total of $170.5 million, according to HYPEBEAST. Based on those figures, it is estimated that Ye has made $25.6 million.

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Adidas is also rolling out a new Yeezy product — a Yeezy slide in a blended “MX Moon” colorway that has a light grey base and is marbled black with cream accents. A release date for the new item has yet to be confirmed.

Ye made a number of disturbing antisemitic remarks on social media and in national media appearances in late 2022 in which he incited violence against Jews, glorified Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, questioned facts about the Holocaust, and promoted antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories. He received global condemnation for his comments, which also resulted in him being suspended from Twitter and losing brand partnerships with Balenciaga, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Vogue, GAP, Peloton and others.

Adidas has its own Nazi ties stemming from its founders Adi and Rudi Dassler, who were members of the Nazi party, according to TIME magazine. The publication added that the brand, which started in the 1920s, cooperated with the Nazi party during the 1930s and 1940s.