Investors in Adidas have filed a lawsuit against the company at a US court over its cancelled partnership with Kanye West, saying it should have been aware he courted controversy.
The class-action lawsuit, seen by the AFP news agency, was submitted Friday in US District Court in Oregon, where the German sportswear giant's US headquarters is located. It argues executives failed to control damage linked to the tie-up.
Adidas cut ties with West in October after he made a series of antisemitic outbursts.
West had caused outrage after saying during an interview that the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain were signed because former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, wanted to "make money" from the deal.
He later threatened to go "death con 3 on the Jews" in an apparent antisemitic Twitter rant. West followed this up by claiming that he can't be antisemitic "because black people are actually Jew."
As a result, the group ended production of the highly successful Yeezy line designed together with West. Other companies also cut ties with West in wake of the comments, including the Creative Artists Agency, Foot Locker and Apple Music.
The US lawsuit represents people who bought Adidas shares between May 3, 2018 and February 21, 2023, according to AFP.
It argues that for years before the partnership ended, the rapper "began to accrue controversy as a result of his various statements on topics such as slavery, racial issues, and politics".