The new boss of Adidas doesn’t think Kanye West “meant what he said” when he made the antisemitic statements that led the German sportswear giant to end its ultra-profitable Yeezy collaboration with the rapper. The decision to ax the sneakers and fashion deal last October after Ye said he was “going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” has triggered a sharp drop in Adidas’ sales, which chief executive Bjørn Gulden—a Norwegian recruited from Puma after the row—clearly regrets. Speaking on a Norwegian podcast, Gulden said West was “one of the most creative persons in the world... and then, as creative people, he did some statements, which wasn’t that good. And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate, because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person—it just came across that way.” As The Guardian notes, however, West has not reined in the antisemitic statements since the Adidas breakup: “There’s a lot of things that I love about Hitler,” he told Alex Jones’ InfoWars podcast last December.
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