The Official End of Yeezys. We Think.
A court decision closes the final chapter on one of sneaker history's most profitable—and problematic—partnerships
A court just closed the book on one of sneaker history’s most complicated partnerships. I’m not sure how to feel about it.
Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with adidas in a shareholder lawsuit over the Yeezy collapse. Shareholders claimed adidas knew about Ye’s problematic behavior since at least 2018 but kept the partnership going anyway... costing them money when it all imploded in October 2022.
The court said basically what anyone paying attention already knew... “A reasonable investor would know that a partnership with a celebrity partner like Ye would come with inherent risks relating to improper behavior.”
Translation: you partnered with Kanye West and expected zero drama? Really?
The numbers tell the story of what we lost. Yeezy generated $1.7 billion for adidas in 2021. Nearly $2 billion at its peak. That’s not just shoes... that was cultural impact at scale. The partnership accounted for roughly 7-10% of adidas’ entire revenue. When it ended, adidas got stuck with over $1 billion worth of shoes sitting in warehouses.
They eventually sold most of that inventory, donating portions to charities fighting antisemitism. The last of it moved in late 2024. And now this court decision... the final legal chapter... closes the book entirely.
So that’s it. The Yeezy era is officially over. Probably.
Ten Years Ago, I Met Kanye Outside adidas New York City Headquarters
I hit on the original Yeezy 750. February 2015. I passed that win on to my friend Brandon Edler.
That same weekend, Brandon and I were in New York. Thanks to Wex (Jon Wexler at adidas), we met Kanye outside a business meeting at the adidas NYC headquarters. This was before the madness... before the “White Lives Matter” shirts... before the antisemitic rants that would eventually destroy everything he’d built.
Kanye was humble. He told Brandon he looked fresh and thanked us both for supporting his partnership with adidas. It was genuine. You could feel how much the partnership meant to him at that moment.
That version of Kanye... the one who made “College Dropout” and “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”... who hand-delivered the first pairs sold of his first adidas shoes... that’s the artist whose work I respected. The storytelling. The production. The willingness to be vulnerable about mental health and ambition and struggle.
But I never really owned his shoes. I hit on a pair of 550s years later, used them for a photoshoot, sent them to another friend who wanted a pair. The designs were interesting... I love the Feet You Wear stuff from adidas and some of the design cues that Yeezys pulled from are classic Three Stripes, but overall, just not my style.
What I loved about Yeezys wasn’t the shoes themselves. It was watching how they made people feel. The excitement. The community. The way a sneaker drop could become an event.
Around That Same Time, I Made a Prediction
Working for Finish Line in 2014-2015, I had a front-row seat to the early Yeezy hype. We partnered with brands like adidas for events. We had Russ Bengtson and Jacques Slade interview athletes, celebrities, and sneaker enthusiasts for Finish Line and adidas. We built a basketball court in a mall with Under Armour and livestreamed Stephen Curry participating in a 3-point contest with fans. We were doing in-store concepts and content with PUMA. This gave me an up-close and personal look at what was working and what wasn’t.
Crazy that was ten years ago.
During that period, I wrote a piece for Complex arguing that if Kanye and Kim Kardashian did things right, they wouldn’t need athletes to sell Yeezys. The celebrity influence alone could carry an entire sneaker brand... something that had never really been proven at that scale before. I think Kim agreed, or at least she retweeted me (remember when Twitter was Twitter? Sigh).
I should say, I wasn’t hoping for this. I just saw it coming. I am a sports fan. I grew up on ‘Be Like Mike.’ But I also learned how to see past my personal bias (shout out to parents who do the work to heal and pass along that knowledge). Maybe Kanye could have used that type of healing.
Who would have thought that 10 years later, Kanye West would be virtually gone from the footwear industry... and Kim Kardashian would be the one collaborating with all sorts of brands through her Skims empire?
Kim seems to have gotten it right. Built something sustainable. Stayed focused on business. Avoided using cruelty as marketing.
Kanye did the opposite.
I Have No Sympathy for Cruelty as Marketing
Let me be clear about something. I have no sympathy for cruelty as marketing. Ignorance as publicity. The version of Kanye that emerged in recent years... that’s not someone I’ll defend in any way.
Quite the opposite. In fact, I haven’t even listened to a Kanye song in years. Hearing any of his music is just disappointing to me… a reminder of how evil his words have become.
The antisemitic comments weren’t “edgy” or “misunderstood.” They were hateful. Dangerous. Unacceptable.
Adidas knew this was coming. The court documents reveal they were “fully aware” since at least 2018 that Ye routinely made improper comments to employees at adidas and his Yeezy design shop. They kept the partnership going because it made money. Lots of money.
When you’re generating $1.7 billion annually, apparently, you overlook a lot. Until you can’t anymore.
October 2022, adidas finally cut ties after Ye’s “White Lives Matter” shirt and a string of antisemitic rants. Too late to avoid the damage. Too late to protect the employees who dealt with his behavior for years. But eventually, they did the right thing.
The $1.3 billion hit to their 2023 revenue... the warehouse full of unsellable inventory... the first annual loss since 1992... all of that was the cost of staying in business with someone whose behavior they knew was problematic.
The Shoes Made People Happy. That Part Was Real.
The complicated truth about Yeezy is that the shoes themselves... they worked. Not necessarily for me personally, but for millions of people who connected with the designs, the culture, the community around them.
The excitement was real. The cultural impact was real. The way Yeezys gave people something to aspire to... to save up for... to feel proud of owning... that mattered.
I saw it working at Finish Line. At StockX. Every release was an event. People camped out. Entered raffles. Showed up any place that gave them a chance to get a pair. Paid resale prices that seemed insane. And they weren’t just buying shoes... they were buying into something bigger.
That’s what makes this whole thing so frustrating. The product worked. The brand worked. The cultural moment worked. All of it could have continued if the person behind it hadn’t self-destructed so spectacularly.
The Court Decision
The 9th Circuit ruling Wednesday essentially says adidas didn’t defraud shareholders by failing to predict exactly when Kanye would blow up the partnership. The court found no intent to defraud... just a company navigating an increasingly difficult celebrity partnership until it became impossible to continue.
Shareholders claimed they lost money when adidas stock tanked after the breakup. The court said tough luck... you invested in a company partnered with Kanye West. Inherent risks come with that territory.
It’s the final legal piece. Ye and adidas settled all remaining claims from the partnership termination earlier this year. No payments exchanged. Just... done.
Adidas moved on. Their North America sales are finally recovering after dropping 25% in Q4 2023. The company posted its first profitable year since the split. They’re rebuilding without Yeezy.
And Kanye? Last anyone checked, he was spotted in Y-3 (still adidas, technically) and floating between controversies. No new sneaker deals. No path back to the influence he once had.
I Hope Kanye Gets Some Help
I mean that sincerely. Mental health struggles are real. The version of Kanye who made “Through the Wire” and “Runaway”... who talked openly about his anxiety and depression... that person deserves compassion and support.
But compassion doesn’t mean excusing antisemitism. It doesn’t mean pretending hate speech is just “being provocative.” It doesn’t mean giving someone a pass because they make good music or interesting shoes.
I hope he finds peace. I hope he gets help. I genuinely do.
But I also hope no one uses the methods he used... or says the terrible things he said... in order to sell something. Music, shoes, clothes, or otherwise.
Kim Got It Right
Maybe the real lesson is that Kim Kardashian understood something Kanye didn’t. You can build influence without chaos. You can create hype without hate. You can make great products and partner with major brands... all while treating people with basic human decency.
Skims collaborations with Nike, The North Face, the NBA, the NFL... Kim built what Kanye destroyed. And she did it by focusing on the work instead of the spectacle of self-destruction.
Ten years ago, I argued they could build a sneaker empire together based on celebrity influence alone. I was half right. One of them built an empire. The other burned his down.
The Official End. Probably.
So this court decision marks the official end of the adidas-Yeezy partnership. All legal matters resolved. All inventory sold. All ties severed.
Except... this is Kanye we’re talking about. And sneaker culture has a short memory when the product is good enough. Stranger comebacks have happened.
But for now, as of December 2025, the Yeezy era is over. A partnership that generated billions, influenced an entire generation of sneaker design, and ultimately collapsed under the weight of one person’s refusal to be anything other than his worst self.
I’ll remember the excitement of those early releases. The way the shoes made people feel. The cultural moment when celebrity influence proved it could carry a sneaker brand without athletes.
I just wish it had ended differently. Or better yet... never had to end at all.
Ten years ago, Kanye thanked me for supporting his adidas partnership. I wonder if he ever thinks about all the people who supported him... and what he threw away.
The court closed the book Wednesday. The Yeezy chapter is done.
We think.
I’m Nick Engvall, and I’ve been writing about sneakers and culture for nearly two decades. I was employee #9 at StockX, worked at Complex Sneakers, Finish Line, and Stadium Goods. I run Sneaker History (website and podcast) and write The Sneaker Newsletter. If you’re getting value from these posts, consider becoming a Founding Member before rates increase January 1st.