by a new Rolling Stone The report sheds more light on Kanye West’s alleged mistreatment of Yeezy employees, as numerous former staffers accuse Ye of repeatedly showing them “hardcore” pornography during work hours.
A variety of West’s actions are detailed in an open letter issued Tuesday by former high-ranking Yeezy staffers to Adidas executive board members and chief executive officer.
Entitled “The Truth About Yeezy: A Call To Action For Adidas Leadership,” the letter, by RSwho obtained a copy, demands that Adidas leadership address “the toxic and chaotic environment that Kanye West created,” as well as a “very sick pattern of predatory behavior toward women” that he worked with Ye.
According to numerous former employees, Kanye frequently talked about pornography and played explicit videos during staff meetings, showed intimate photos of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian at job interviews, and even played his own sex tapes for Yeezy team members.
“He showed me the video of Francesca Le, an amateur porn star with a strap-on fucking another girl in the ass,” said a former collaborator. Rolling Stone. “It’s like, ‘What do you think of that?’ Not laughing at all.”
“The oversexualized behavior has been consistent from the beginning,” said another former senior employee. “I don’t know if he ever left.”
An employee said that Kanye expressed to his colleagues his desire to make a shoe that he could ejaculate in. “It’s not a sex toy sneaker, but something you were so interested in that you wanted to be intimate,” he explained. “He would be, like, ‘literally Shit.’ He would be very clear about what that meant.”
While Kanye’s displays of pornography were far more than acceptable, former staff members maintain that Adidas’ senior executive team overlooked his lack of professionalism. Other alleged incidents and behavior included Ye playing adult videos in meetings with the excuse that he needed them “in the background to keep them going.” [him] focused,” and having “exploited at the women in the room with offensive comments,” including calling an employee a “fat whore.”
“The most concerning behavior that should have been flagged by the executive team very early on in the partnership is his fear-based and manipulative approach to leading the team, all while attempting to assert dominance over Adidas employees in close quarters,” it read. the letter.
Although the group requests that executive board members issue a public apology to the Yeezy team for putting up with Kanye’s “scary behavior,” the open letter focuses the blame on Adidas leadership.
“As much as we would all love to put the blame solely on Kanye,” the letter states, “the undeniable truth is that the Adidas executive team and board have been great enablers.”
One former staffer observed that there are “many forms of abuse, and this is the type of abuse that is so many types of abuse rolled into one,” while another said that West uses “tactics[s] to tear a person down and establish their unwavering loyalty to them, testing and destroying people’s limits.”
An Adidas spokesperson issued a statement to RS in on behalf of the company, writing: “Adidas does not tolerate hate speech or offensive behavior and has therefore ended the association with adidas Yeezy. We have been and continue to be actively involved in discussions with our employees about the events they conduct [sic] to our decision to terminate the association. They have our full support and as we work through the details of the termination, we have made it clear that we want to keep the talent and skills of our employees within the organization.”
Read the full report here. Also included is an incident in which West in 2019 is alleged to have texted a then-employee about a nearly-forgotten sneaker prototype: “We really need to get this shoe made because all I think about is Kim’s ass.” and this shoe.” This pushed the design “from not working to the number one top model”, only to never make it to market.
