Adidas has unveiled plans to donate its remaining Yeezy stock to charity following the sportswear retailer’s fallout with rapper Kanye West last year.
The remaining Yeezy stock holds a value of €1.2bn (£1bn) and Adidas chief executive Björn Gulden told shareholders at the retailer’s annual meeting that destroying the stock “was not the right move”, according to The Guardian.
Gulden said: “What we are trying to do now over time is to sell parts of this merchandise and donate money to the organisations hurt by Kanye’s statements.
“When we will do that and how we will do that is not clear yet but we are working on those things.”
It was also reported that Gulden attempted to defend Adidas’ decision to collaborate with the rapper initially despite the fallout, calling him “the most creative mind in our industry”.
The sportswear retailer recently faced backlash after investors filed a class action lawsuit against Adidas following claims the business was aware of West’s “problematic” and antisemitic comments years prior to cutting ties.
Adidas reported a decline in profit as well as posting that sales remained “flattish” for the first quarter of 2023 as it admitted the Yeezy fallout is “of course, hurting us”.
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