Kanye West Accuses Adidas CEO Of Imitating His Yeezy Slides

Ye (formerly known as Kanye West ) is apparently unhappy with the head honcho of Adidas . 

The music mogul, who recently took a three-month break from Instagram, returned to the platform on Monday to accuse the company of mimicking his Yeezy slides design.

“THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on,” he wrote in the since-deleted post, referencing the legendary Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant.  

Last year, Byant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, outed Nike for allegedly releasing shoes she designed to honor their late child, Gigi, without her consent.

“To Kasper I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more,” Ye continued, addressing Adidas’ CEO Kasper Rørsted directly.

“To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store. This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can’t cause they’ll loose their contract or be called crazy Bravery is not being afraid Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth,” he added. 

“This Ye with the blue paint on my face These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves I’m not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me.”

“Happy Monday,” he sarcastically ended the message. 

Since 2013, the rapper has been a business partner of Adidas, which is expected to release its $55 Adilette 22 sandals on June 23.

The Yeezy Slide dropped in 2019, and the Adilette sandals are somewhat similar in style and concept to Ye’s more expensive slides. 

In 2020, sales for Yeezy sneakers topped nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue, which landed the rapper a whopping $191 million in royalties, according to Bloomberg .

Rørsted has yet to issue a response to Ye’s claims.