Adidas Sticking With Kanye West After His Slavery Remarks

CEO Rorsted says company has not spoken with Yeezy designer
Shares fall after company reports adverse currency effect

"Kanye has been, and is, a very important part of our strategy," Rorsted tells Bloomberg Television.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Richard Weiss, Guy Johnson, and Matthew Miller

May 3, 2018 at 7:31 AM UTC

Updated on

May 3, 2018 at 2:54 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Adidas AG Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted distanced himself from comments about slavery by Kanye West but said the company has not discussed dropping the rapper as a designer.

“There clearly are some comments we don’t support,” Rorsted said on a call. The company plans to talk with West about the matter, he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings but said its sales were hit by the strength of the euro. The shares fell as much as 6.3 percent in Frankfurt.