Kanye West-led Donda Academy allegedly prohibited Nike and Adidas at premises
Kanye West has a controversial past with his former leading shoe-makers brands, Nike and Adidas.
However, the former did give heads-up to the latter about the shenanigans of the polarising rap star.
Still, the German brand reportedly sat on the warnings and focussed profits.
The shocking revelation was unearthed by a report in Bloomberg as the polarising rap star collaborated with Nike on his Air Yeezy, which was launched in 2009.
But, ultimately, Ye had a fallout with the brand.
At
the time, the fashion mogul claimed the multi-billion company denied
royalties to him because he was not a professional athlete.
However,
the four years collaboration was a success for Nike as last Ye-partnered
sneakers worth $245 was reportedly sold in eleven minutes in 2014.
Meanwhile,
Adidas roped in West in 2013 for a partnership, and their first sneaker hit
the shelves in 2015.
The deal skyrocketed the company's sales and
carved a larger market share for the brand, which was facing competition
with rivals Nike and Reebok.
However, the 45-year-old problematic
behaviour caused concerns among the brand's staff.
But, the
company's dependence on the Grammy winner sneaker range forced execs to
tolerate his actions, as revealed by Bloomberg's report.
Moreover,
multiple reports suggested Adidas head honchos complicity in downplaying, or
worst, ignoring the erratic behaviour of West.
As a Rolling Stone report detailed Yeezy former members'
allegations against the brand of being updated from Kanye West's
"problematic behaviour" but still "turned their moral compass off.”
While
The Wall Street Journal threw the final punch, the report spilled beans on
Adidas' top head honchos mulling as early as 2018 about the risks of working
with the Grammy winner.
