Kanye West admits he was “two months from going bankrupt” after Adidas deal termination
Kanye West has admitted he was “two months from going bankrupt” upon the termination of his deal with Adidas.
The sponsorship came to an end in 2022 shortly after West made anti-Semitic comments on X/Twitter. While the rapper and producer has refused to accept that the term “anti-Semitism” exists because he claims it’s “not factual”, he has since offered something of an “apology” to those whom he’s offended with his comments.
Now, West has opened up about the aftermath of his deal falling through, telling TMZ on Monday (February 12): “I’m gonna be honest with y’all: I was two months from going bankrupt, really… And we survived. We survived through the cancellation.”
West also addressed his remarks that led to the termination of the Adidas deal, which were criticised for being anti-Semitic. He said: “They got the right to their opinion. I got the right to my opinion. You understand what I’m saying? We all have the right to our opinions but so many people will lose their jobs, lose their careers for taking the steps that we took. We went down for like a year and a half.”
The rapper further claimed he sent an apology to the company, who “still fuck with me”: “Some of the stuff I was saying was true. So until y’all come up and say, ‘Yo, what he was saying, some of that was true,’ go ahead with all that … Black people can’t be antisemitic. We are Jews, you understand what I’m saying? We are Jews.”
He added: “For all the Jewish kids that love me, I’m sorry if y’all had to hear a grown up conversation with us screaming at each other, but we got to a point where something needed to happen, something needed to be said.”
West recently released his new collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, ‘Vultures’, which NME rated two stars. “‘Vultures 1’ might not be the total dud that could put Kanye’s career six feet under, but it is far from one of his best efforts either. It’s more cohesive than ‘Donda’ – although that’s not hard, given it’s about half its length – and includes some well-curated guest spots from Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and India Love.
“Ty Dolla $ign sounds spectacular on the record, too, even if it does make you question why he’d choose to be overshadowed by his collaborator and the baggage that comes with him. For now, though, it’s onwards to March’s ‘Vultures 2’ and, hopefully, several changes in attitude. Don’t hold your breath.”
Meanwhile, West has endorsed Trump for US President despite their past feud, saying: “Yeah, of course, it’s Trump all day,” he said. “What you talking about? You know what it is.”
In other news, an ex-NFL player has claimed Taylor Swift got Kanye West kicked out of the Super Bowl.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
