The German shoe and apparel company Adidas has gone back and forth on what to do with some $1 billion in shoes associated with “Ye” (Kanye West), following the musician’s antisemitic statements.
First, Adidas was not going to sell the merchandise, and then it announced that it would sell the shoes but donate some of the sales to the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that counter antisemitism and racism.
The Holocaust Survivors’ Foundation-USA has a different recommendation for Adidas: Donate profits to Holocaust survivors, many of whom are suffering in poverty.
In a letter to the company, David Schaecter, president of the foundation, noted the German company’s connections to the Nazis. (Company founders were members of the Nazi Party, with which the company collaborated.)
“The most significant step Adidas can take today to meaningfully address the consequences of its history would be to devote significant resources to assist indigent Holocaust survivors in need,” wrote Schaecter.
He noted “reports that Adidas executives were personally aware of but tolerated West’s antisemitic views and diatribes long before the 2022 explosion.”
