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Kanye West, Adidas Reach Out-of-Court Settlement After Severing Ties Over Rapper’s Antisemitic Comments
Singer Ye, formerly known as Kanye West (2nd R), laughs before presenting his Fall/Winter 2015 partnership with Adidas at New York Fashion Week February 12, 2015. Photo: Reuters
Adidas has reached an out-of-court settlement with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to end legal proceedings between both parties two years after the German sportswear company ended its partnership with the rapper and Yeezy designer because of his antisemitic comments.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden announced the news in a conference call with reporters. He said neither party will walk away with any money from the settlement, Reuters reported.
“There isn’t any more open issues and there is no … money going either way, and we both move on,” he said. “There were tensions on many issues, and … both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims.” Gulden added that the company’s controversy with Ye “belongs to the past.”
“When you have conflicts like this, you take provisions and you have legal opinions and there are negotiations and there are settlements being done, and this is the end to it,” he explained, according to the BBC. “No one owes anything to anybody anymore. Whatever was is history.”
It remains unclear what legal disputes were ongoing between Adidas and Ye before a settlement was reached. It was previously reported that both sides were engaged in a private arbitration case over the termination of the partnership, but details about the case were not publicized.
Adidas is still selling its remaining inventory of Yeezy items, but Gulden noted on Tuesday that the company will sell the final stock by the end of 2024, according to the BBC. The Adidas CEO said last year that the company would donate some of the proceeds made from its leftover Yeezy inventory to groups fighting antisemitism and discrimination, such as the Anti-Defamation League and Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.
Adidas and Ye began collaborating on the Yeezy line of sneakers in 2014, but in October and December 2022, the “Flashing Lights” singer made a series of antisemitic comments on and off social media, including writing on X that he wanted to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” He also uploaded images of antisemitic tropes on his social media accounts, such as an image of a swastika intertwined with a Star of David. He then praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and denied facts about the Holocaust in an interview with far-right talk show host Alex Jones, and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes during an interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
As a result of his comments, Adidas — among many other companies — severed business ties with Ye and his Yeezy brand. The company said at the time that it does “not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness.”
The post Kanye West, Adidas Reach Out-of-Court Settlement After Severing Ties Over Rapper’s Antisemitic Comments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.