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Adidas plans to relaunch Kanye West’s shoe designs after cutting ties with the disgraced rapper — and said it will ditch the Yeezy name in the process.
The German sportswear giant said Wednesday that it intends to strip the shoes of their “Ye” branding but keep the same designs. The move could save Adidas over $300 million in royalty payments.
“Let me be clear, we own all the [intellectual property], we own all the designs, we own all the versions and new colorways, It’s our product,” said Adidas’ Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer on the call. “We intend to make use of these rights as early as 2023.”
The announcement comes just over two weeks after Adidas dropped its collaboration with rap star West, also known as “Ye”, following his series of anti-Semitic tirades.
