Kanye West Says Adidas and Gap Are 'New Baby Mamas,' Talks Troubled Relationship with Corporate Partners The rapper and entrepreneur, who now goes by Ye, is looking to be more independent in his business.
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Kanye West, now known as Ye, has been publicly calling out the corporations he has partnered with to sell Yeezy-branded clothes and apparel.
But now he hopes to be done with the drama as soon as possible, according to a new interview with Bloomberg.
"It's time for me to go it alone," he told the outlet.
Over the last few weeks, the rapper, entertainer, and entrepreneur has been posting on Instagram about his corporate partners, Gap and Adidas. But online and in the interview, he said he has felt sidelined by the corporations and was upset that Adidas released a shoe outside of their partnership that looks similar to Yeezy slides.
Ye is resigned to it in some ways, he told Bloomberg. (His contract with Gap ends in 2030, and his Adidas contract runs until 2026, the outlet noted.)
"They my new baby mamas," Ye said. "I guess we're just going to have to co-parent those 350s."
Ye and the brand sell the Yeezy Boost 350s.
What's been going on with Adidas, Gap, and Kanye?
Adidas and Ye first started making shoes together in 2015, and the designs frequently sell out minutes after being released.
The entertainer's e-commerce brand and partnerships turned around his wealth trajectory, according to Bloomberg.
An unaudited financial document showed that Ye had $122 million in just stock and cash, the outlet reported last year.
Adidas is leaning on Ye to reach younger customers, Bloomberg noted. The same goes for Gap's partnership with Ye, which was announced in 2020, according to Reuters.
"It's fine. I made the companies [SIC] money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry. Now it's time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience," Ye told the outlet.
He also tried to join the boards of both companies and has not been able to, Bloomberg added.
In his Instagram posts last week, many of which are now deleted, he expressed frustrations with the slow timeline of changing his relationships with Adidas.
"It's going to cost you billions to keep me It's going to cost you billions to let me go adidas... I'll give you to Tuesday I'm not waiting 7 months to leave like the breach letter," he wrote in a now-deleted post.
He also told the outlet he wants to get a deal with Adidas where he gets 20% royalties on all the shoes he has created for them, permanently.
"If these companies, if they want to play with me — I've been playing nice up to this point," Ye told the outlet, as far as how he would get such a sweet deal.
Ye also told Bloomberg that Gap has not been inclusive while working with him over the clothing line and has left him out of meetings. On top of that, he has been struggling with bank JPMorgan Chase and has said he "couldn't get the CEO on the phone or any deal flow," Bloomberg wrote.
"I feel like there's a lot of controlling and handling to suppress my ability to affect the American economy and industry," Ye said about the bank.
JPMorgan Chase, Adidas, and Gap did not respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.
