New claims from former members of the Yeezy and Adidas team were presented in a new open letter to Adidas executives.
In a new open letter from employees of Yeezy and Adidas, Kanye West is accused of using pornography and “mind games” to intimidate and manipulate staff.
Earlier this month, a new Rolling Stone report made claims about the treatment of employees at Yeezy, and former employees claimed that there is a “cult atmosphere” in the brand’s office.
Now, in a follow-up report, more former employees of Yeezy and Adidas, who had a deal with Kanye’s brand for nine years from 2013 until recently, have claimed manipulative behavior on the part of the criticized rapper.
In a new open letter from former senior employees of Yeezy and Adidas, one former senior Adidas employee claims that at a meeting in 2017, Kanye asked her to “make me shoes that I can fuck,” while another potential employee claims that he was invited to the rapper’s house in the Hollywood Hills and found that he watches hardcore pornography and asks the designer’s opinion about it, “without laughing at all.”
According to the letter, pornography was Kanye’s constant companion, and one of Yeezy’s top employees said that Adidas executives warned him about this trait before they took the job, saying, “Hey, just so you know, there’s going to be this whole porn reference thing,” and a second supervisor said, “It’s will catch you off guard for the first time. I think he’s doing it to catch people off guard.”
The employee added: “He was at a meeting, talking to you and chatting on his laptop” to show a porn video, the employee tells Rolling Stone. “And he’s like, ‘I know it’s uncomfortable, but I need it to be in the background so I can focus.’
It is reported that West also once told employees, “If you ever get stuck in creativity, just watch porn for 10 minutes.”
According to Rolling Stone magazine, an open letter titled “The Truth about Yeezy: A Call to Action for Adidas Management” was sent by former employees to Adidas board members and CEO asking about the “toxic and chaotic environment that Kanye West created,” which included “a very painful pattern of predatory behavior towards women”which had to be stopped.
It said: “In past years, he has lashed out at women in the room with offensive remarks and resorted to sexual references when giving design reviews. This type of reaction from a partner brand should never be subjected to either Adidas employees or Adidas management.”
In the letter, employees claim that Adidas executives “turned off their moral compass,” despite knowing about Kanye’s “problematic behavior.”
One of the former employees said: “There was no responsibility. There were difficult moments when there were executives in the room — at the level of the vice president or higher - and nothing could be done. You’ll show up for work the next day anyway.”
Elsewhere in the open letter, it is claimed that Kanye wanted to “use his power to quietly rape you and threaten your role and existence in the team,” stating about the “disturbing” sexual atmosphere in the Yeezy office and writing: “The most disturbing behavior that should have been noticed by the executive team at the very beginning of the partnership is this is his manipulative and fear-based approach to team management, and all this while trying to assert dominance over Adidas employees indoors.”
Kanye West did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment, while Adidas said in a statement: “Adidas does not tolerate hate speech and abusive behavior and has therefore terminated its cooperation with adidas Yeezy. We have been and continue to actively discuss with our employees the events that led [so in the original] to our decision to terminate the partnership.
“They have our full support, and by working through the details of the dismissal, we have made it clear that we want to keep the talents and skills of our employees in the organization.”
Last month, Adidas stopped working with Kanye West and Yeezy because of the rapper’s anti-Semitic comments. In a statement, the German sportswear brand said: “Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism and any other hate speech.
“Ye’s recent comments and actions were unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values such as diversity and inclusivity, mutual respect and fairness.”
Since then, Adidas has announced that it intends to sell Yeezy products without West’s branding, and West himself said that he plans to sell Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap hoodies for $20 (£16.85) after each of the companies breaks off relations with him.
