Kanye West drew swastika in Adidas meeting, told Jewish manager to kiss Hitler portrait every day

Adidas reportedly dealt with Kanye West’s disturbing antisemitic views for nearly a decade before cutting ties with the rapper in October 2022.

According to a new report published by the New York Times Friday, the “Heartless” rapper allegedly drew a swastika during his very first meeting with the brand in 2013.

Several former employees claim the Adidas team met with West at their headquarters in Germany to start “pitching ideas for the first shoe” when the disgraced rapper became increasingly frustrated with their designs.

“The Adidas employees, thrilled to get started, had arrayed sneakers and fabric swatches on a long table near a mood board pinned with images,” the report claimed. “But nothing they showed that day at the company’s German headquarters captured the vision Mr. West had shared.”

The New York Times released a report Friday detailing Kanye West’s alleged history of making antisemitic remarks at Adidas.Jonathan Leibson

The rapper allegedly drew a swastika during a meeting about shoe design in 2013.Getty Images

“To convey how offensive he considered the designs, he grabbed a sketch of a shoe and took a marker to the toe,” two participants told the outlet. “Then he drew a swastika.”

The alleged choice sent shockwaves though the room, especially given the fact they “were meeting just miles from Nuremberg, where leaders of the Third Reich were tried for crimes against humanity.”

Yet the alleged incident was just the first of many antisemitic and 𝑠e𝑥ually offensive comments West would allegedly make during his nearly 10-year tenure with the brand, the NYT reports.

West also reportedly advised a former Jewish employee to “kiss” a portrait of Hitler “every day.”Getty Images for adidas

Insiders told the outlet that a few years later, the rapper allegedly “advised a Jewish Adidas manager to kiss a picture of Hitler every day.”

He also allegedly told some Adidas colleagues he thought Hitler was a “master marketer” and really “admired” his “command of propaganda.”

Then in 2018, he reportedly admitted to paying a former Yeezy chief executive a seven-figure settlement after they “accused him of repeatedly praising the architect of the Holocaust.”

Despite his alleged behavior, the company continued to work with West until October 2022.AFP via Getty Images

As previously reported, it was around that time that he allegedly wanted to name his next album “Hitler” — he ultimately went with “Ye.”

Yet despite his alleged problematic and erratic behavior, the company continued to work with him as they saw their profit margins continue to skyrocket.

In fact, regardless of his conduct, Adidas reportedly agreed to triple the rapper’s guaranteed annual salary during contract negations in 2016.

Adidas told the New York Times they have “no tolerance for hate speech and offensive behavior.”Yeezy Mafia / Instagram

While they did add morals clause into the contract, they didn’t invoke it until last year.

The sportswear brand severed ties with the “Gold Digger” rapper in late 2022 after he went on numerous public antisemitic rants.

Weeks prior, the company had announced that its partnership with the Yeezy fashion designer was “under review” after he repeatedly wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt.

The disgraced rapper was dropped from all of his partnerships after going on a series of antisemitic rants online.WireImage

After pulling the plug on their partnership, West’s net worth dropped by $1.1 billion.

Other companies such as Gap, Balenciaga and Vogue also terminated their partnerships with him.

In a statement shared with the NYT, Adidas said they have “no tolerance for hate speech and offensive behavior, which is why the company terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership.”

Reps for West did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

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“𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑎𝑚 2” 𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑎𝑑ℎ𝑒, 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡. 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡…

𝐁𝐚𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝟐 : 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒) | 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐮𝐤𝐡 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐧, 𝐀𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐡𝐚𝐧

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