Adidas Launches Investigation into Allegations That Kanye West Showed Yeezy Employees Porn, Used Intimidation Tactics

A new report has brought forth claims of fear-mongering and West sharing intimate photos of then-wife Kim Kardashian

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Nov 24, 2022

Just shy of one month after ending its partnership with the disgraced artist (and two-time US presidential hopeful) formerly known as Kanye West, Adidas has launched an investigation into claims that the rapper showed his Yeezy employees pornography brought forth in a new Rolling Stone report.

As per The Financial Times, the company will open an independent probe into the allegations of Ye's misconduct uncovered in the report — published on Tuesday (November 22) — after Union Investment, a German firm that owns a stake in Adidas, demanded answers from the sportswear brand.

Reporting by Matt Sullivan and Cheyenne Roundtree found that West allegedly had a penchant for showing porn to both prospective and existing employees, including intimate photos and videos of his then-wife, Kim Kardashian. He also allegedly told multiple Yeezy staff members that he wanted to make "a shoe I can fuck." One former employee recalled him saying, "I literally want to fuck my shoes. That's how good they are."

Sullivan and Roundtree interviewed more than two dozen former Adidas and Yeezy employees. They also obtained an exclusive copy of a letter, titled "The Truth About Yeezy: A Call to Action for Adidas Leadership," sent by several staffers to Adidas executives, which alleges how West forced discomfort through "years of verbal abuse, vulgar tirades, and bullying attacks." However, they also claim executives at Adidas are owed partial blame, claiming they were well aware of the musician's intimidation tactics.

"It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true," an Adidas spokesperson wrote in a statement to Rolling Stone. "However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations."

This is the second scathing report on working conditions at Yeezy that Rolling Stone has published this month, having previously reported on the company's "chaotic," "cult-like" environment and West reportedly firing an employee for trying to add Drake to the office playlist.

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