Adidas exec says Kanye West "didn't mean what he said" about Jewish people
Herzogenaurach, Germany - Kanye West may have been dropped from his high-profile business deal with Adidas after he made several antisemitic statements, but an executive for the company is now defending the rapper.
![An executive of Adidas said in a recent interview that he does not believe Kanye West (r.) is a bad person after the rapper made several antisemitic statements.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/2/q/2q7ssl0hu3v0yfn7fncxlsw40yiiai1e.jpg)
According to The Guardian, Bjørn Gulden, chief executive of Adidas, opened up about the controversies surrounding Ye in a recent interview with the Norwegian podcast In Good Company.
"I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and what I call street culture," Gulden explained. "So he's extremely creative and has, together with [Adidas], created a Yeezy line that was very successful."
He recounted how Ye "did [make] some statements, which wasn't that good," forcing the company to withdraw from "one of the most successful collabs in history."
"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."
Either Gulden is shamelessly trying to fix the broken relationship with West, which cost Adidas over $500 million, or he has forgotten the worst of Ye's many controversial statements.
In December 2022, Ye made a strange appearance on Alex Jones' Info Wars show where he argued that Hitler was "good" and professed, "I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."
Cover photo: Collage: Christof STACHE / AFP & POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP