Adidas is investigating allegations of misconduct against Kanye West, including claims he showed staff pornographic and explicit photos of Kim Kardashian.
The German sportswear giant ended its relationship with Rapper Last month, he said he received an anonymous letter containing several allegations against the rapper.
The independent investigation follows a Rolling Stone report that Kanye used pornography, bullying and “mind games” to control employees.
Citing interviews with more than 20 former Yeezy and Adidas employees, the magazine detailed allegations that West played pornography to Yeezy employees at meetings, discussed pornography and showed intimate photos of Kim Kardashian during job interviews, showing posted explicit videos and photos of Kardashian and a sex tape of himself to members of the Yeezy team.
In an alleged incident in 2017, Kanye was accused of yelling at a senior female employee “I want you to make me a pair of shoes I can fuck” after claiming the Yeezy sneakers he was inspecting were not up to standard “.
The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to comment for this article, is said to have taken leave before moving on to work elsewhere at Adidas.
According to the magazine, it was these former team members who sent an anonymous letter to Adidas, accusing company executives of “turning a blind eye” to Kanye’s actions and saying they had “turned off their moral compass.”
The letter was also understood to draw attention to what they said was a “toxic and chaotic environment” created by Kanye and “a very pathological pattern of predatory behavior towards women.”
An Adidas spokesman told Reuters: “It is not yet known whether the allegations contained in the anonymous letter are true. However, we take these allegations very seriously and have decided to immediately launch an independent investigation into the matter to resolve them.”
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Earlier this week, Union Investment, one of Adidas’ largest shareholders, wrote to the company asking for more information about the claim and when it first raised the internal allegations with management.
West’s fashion line, Yeezy, originally launched as a collaboration with Nike in 2009, but switched to Adidas in 2013. Kanye said at the time that the move was due to a patent fee dispute.
West has previously spoken out about his “porn addiction”, saying it has “ruined my family”.
After six years of marriage, he split from Kim Kardashian. She is also the mother of his four children.
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The rapper has faced backlash lately Anti-Semitic remarks on social medialeading his broker to let him go, and his bank, JPMorgan, to cut ties.
Brands including Balenciaga, Foot Locker and Gap have also ended their partnerships with the musician.
At the same time, West announced that he would run in the 2024 US presidential election and asked Donald Trump to be his running mate.
West Pacific Running for Office in 2020But due to a combination of missed deadlines and a lack of signatures, only a handful of states have made it to the presidential election.
Kanye West has been contacted for comment.