Rapper and designer Kanye West has taken to Instagram to accuse sportswear giant Adidas of copying his designs.
In a since deleted post, West posted a photo of a pair of Adidas slides and then posted a lengthy caption on Instagram.
He wrote: “To Kasper I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more.
“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.”
“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 to talk to me Happy Monday.”
West is assumedly referring to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorset.
.@kanyewest sharing his thoughts about the Adidas Adilette Slides 👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/SlFoeM8w32
— SiteSupply (@TheSiteSupply) June 13, 2022
Of course, West’s accusations are interesting because West has partnered with the brand before.
Naturally, Twitter also weighed on West’s accusation.
@kanyewest contract with @adidas will expire in 2026. Will he stay with them, go back to @Nike, link up with @newbalance or are these new patents for #YEEZUS a way of telling us that he’s cooking up his own footwear brand since @adidas does own all #YEEZY patents.
— Ellen Mitchell (@sneakherrhead) June 14, 2022
As a loyal brand ambassador for @adidas, I am expressing dissatisfaction over the accusations that @kanyewest brought forward today. I’m not okay with people stealing other’s ideas for the sake of business. Please fix this!
— Alejandro 😎🇲🇽 (@aduran0723) June 13, 2022
If you’re wondering why he’s mad it’s not JUST bc they’ve outright copied him but Adidas still puts no priority in giving him the production he’s been asking for since Day 1. We need a milli more in production 🗣🗣🗣
— Campeão da Copa do Mundo (@ProfesorDelFut) June 13, 2022
Adidas has yet to respond.