アディダス、Ｋ・ウェストさんとの提携解消　反ユダヤ発言で

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】ドイツのスポーツ用品大手アディダスは２５日、反ユダヤ主義的な発言で批判を浴びている米ラッパーのカニエ・ウェストさんとの提携関係を直ちに解消すると発表した。（写真はカニエ・ウェストさん＜左＞とアディダスのロゴ。資料写真）
　アディダスは、ウェストさんの最近の発言は「容認できず、憎しみに満ちた危険なもの」だと指摘。ウェストさんとのコラボレーションで大きな成功を収めたブランド「Ｙｅｅｚｙ（イージー）」製品の生産を終了し、ウェストさんと関係企業に対する支払いをすべて停止するとした。提携停止により、今年の純利益は最大２億５０００万ユーロ（約３７０億円）減少すると試算している。
　現在「Ｙｅ（イェ）」の名前で活動するウェストさんをめぐっては、一連の問題行動を受けて関係を断つ企業が相次いでいた。
　仏ファッションブランド、バレンシアガは先週、ウェストさんとの関係を解消。２４日には、米ハリウッドの大手芸能事務所ＣＡＡが契約打ち切りを発表したほか、映画・テレビ制作会社ＭＲＣがすでに完成していたウェストさんのドキュメンタリーの公開を中止すると表明した。
　ウェストさんは今月、仏パリで開催されたファッションショーに「Ｗｈｉｔｅ Ｌｉｖｅｓ Ｍａｔｔｅｒ（白人の命は大切）」とプリントされたＴシャツを着用して登場。この文言は、反人種差別のスローガン「Ｂｌａｃｋ Ｌｉｖｅｓ Ｍａｔｔｅｒ（黒人の命は大切）」に対抗するものとして、米国の極右団体により使用されている。
　さらにその数日後には、反ユダヤ主義的な投稿をしたことで、ツイッターとインスタグラムのアカウントを凍結された。問題視された投稿は「ユダヤ人にデスコン３を仕掛ける」というもので、「デス（死）」と、平時よりも高度な米軍の防衛態勢レベルを示すコード「デフコン（ＤＥＦＣＯＮ）３」をかけ合わせた造語とみられる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/26-12:38）

German sportswear giant Adidas said Tuesday it was ending its partnership with Kanye West after a series of anti-Semitic outbursts by the controversial rapper.
Recent comments by West -- now known formally as Ye -- were unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, Adidas said in a statement.
After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately.
Adidas said it would end production of the highly successful Yeezy line designed together with West and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.
The abrupt end to the collaboration between the sports outfitter and rapper would slash Adidas's net income in 2022 by up to 250 million euros ($246 million), the company estimated.
Adidas's decision to dump the artist was overdue, said Josef Schuster of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
For weeks, West has caused worldwide furore with his anti-Semitic remarks, Schuster said, adding that the rapper's comments had become intolerable.
- T-shirt statement -
Adidas began a review of its relationship with West earlier this month after he appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt emblazoned with White Lives Matter, a slogan created as a backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Days later he was locked out of Twitter and Instagram for threatening to Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE, using a reference to US military readiness.
Comments made by West violate the company?s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness, Adidas said Tuesday.
The artist was associated with rival sportswear company Nike for years but broke away in 2013, lending his name to Adidas as they launched their first Yeezy shoe together in 2015 -- a partnership that went on to make him a billionaire.
Along with Beyonce, Stella McCartney and Pharrell Williams, West's has been one of the top names used by Adidas to boost sales, especially online.
Adidas's announcement was followed later Tuesday by US company Gap, which said it was taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy Gap product from our stores in addition to shutting down YeezyGap.com.
West and Gap had announced in September that they planned to end their partnership, although Gap said at the time it planned to release several co-branded products already in development.
Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga also ended ties with the rapper last week, saying it no longer (has) any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist.
One of Hollywood's biggest talent agencies, CAA, said on Monday it was dropping West, while film and TV producer MRC said it was shelving an already-finished documentary about the artist.
- Inflammatory remarks -
Adidas's decision would stop West from using the company's immense platform to amplify his hateful ideology about Jews, the World Jewish Congress said in a statement.
The German group's delayed move in response to the anti-Semitic comments had come after massive public outcry, the WJC said.
Rights campaigners and entertainment world figures had heaped pressure on Adidas to stop working with the rapper.
Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience, wrote Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel in the Financial Times.
There should be no tolerance anywhere for West's anti-Semitism.
West's ex-wife Kim Kardashian also appeared to join the pile-on, without mentioning the father of her children by name.
Hate speech is never OK or excusable, she wrote Monday on Twitter and Instagram.
I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.
Adidas fell on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange following its announcement, finishing 3.2 percent lower.