Kanye West: Adidas launches probe into misconduct allegations against Ye

Dozens of former staff have detailed incidents of inappropriate behaviour by the rapper

Kanye West has been in the news after he made a series of anti-Semitic comments. Adidas has severed ties with the rapper. AP

West at the BET Awards 2022 in Los Angeles in June. Reuters

The rapper at the Givenchy spring/summer 2023 fashion show in Paris in October. AFP

West performs at Rolling Loud New York at Citi Field in September. Getty Images / AFP

With his former wife Kim Kardashian at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards in 2019. AP

West on stage at the Coachella festival in California in 2019. AP

The rapper holds a rally for his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, in July 2020. Reuters

West wears a Make America Great Again cap to meet president Donald Trump in the White House in 2018. AFP

He watches basketball team the Golden State Warriors play the Boston Celtics in March. Photo: USA Today Sports

With Kim Kardashian and basketball player J Cole at the 69th NBA All-Star Game in Chicago in 2020. AFP

West and Julia Fox, who briefly dated him after his split with Kim Kardashian, at Paris Fashion Week. Getty Images

The rapper performs during the closing ceremony for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. AFP

West and Kim Kardashian with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe. AP

He was a Trump supporter. AP

West on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Los Angeles. AP

He performs at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in 2010. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National

Running for president in North Charleston. AP

West takes the mic from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts an MTV Video Music Award 2009. He said Beyonce should have won instead. AP Photo

The rapper with his mother Donda in 2007. Getty Images

He arrives for a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2016. EPA

Adidas AG on Thursday said it has launched an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Kanye West, after the German sporting goods maker last month ended its partnership with the rapper and fashion designer.

Adidas said it initiated the probe after receiving an anonymous letter making several allegations against the musician, who now goes by Ye.

The investigation follows a report by Rolling Stone magazine that detailed alleged incidents of inappropriate behaviour by Ye toward staff and prospective employees. The publication cited interviews with more than two dozen former Yeezy and adidas staff.

According to the magazine, former members of the team sent an anonymous letter to adidas in which they said senior leaders at the company were aware of Ye's behaviour, but had turned a "blind eye" and "turned their moral compass off".

"It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true," an adidas spokesperson said.

"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."

Ye could not be immediately be reached for comment. News of the probe was first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday.

Union Investment, which owns a 0.76% stake in adidas, wrote to the company asking for more information about the claims.

"Adidas needs to disclose when the management and the supervisory board was first informed about the internal allegations," said Janne Werning, who heads ESG Capital Markets & Stewardship at Union Investment.

Ye has courted controversy in recent months by publicly ending major corporate tie-ups and outbursts on social media against other celebrities.

His Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, with the social media platforms removing some of his posts that users condemned as anti-semitic.