Adidas launches investigation into claims Kanye West showed porn and explicit images of Kim Kardashian to staff
Adidas is launching an investigation into allegations of misconduct against Kanye West, including claims he showed pornography and explicit images of Kim Kardashian to staff members.
The German sportswear giant, which ended its partnership with the rapper last month, said it received an anonymous letter containing several allegations against the rapper.
The independent probe follows a Rolling Stone report claiming that Kanye used pornography, bullying and “mind games” to control staff.
Citing interviews with more than two dozen former Yeezy and Adidas staff, the magazine detailed allegations that West played pornography to Yeezy staff in meetings, discussed porn and showed an intimate photograph of Kim Kardashian in job interviews, and showed an explicit video and photos of Kardashian as well as his own sex tapes to Yeezy team members.
In one alleged 2017 incident, Kanye is accused of yelling “I want you to make me a shoe I can f***” at a senior female employee after claiming the Yeezy trainers he was inspecting were not up to standard.
The woman, who asked not to be named and declined to comment for the article, is said to have taken leave of absence before moving to a job elsewhere at Adidas.
According to the magazine, it is these former members of the team who sent the anonymous letter to Adidas, accusing senior company leaders of turning a “blind eye” to Kanye’s behaviour, and saying they “turned their moral compass off.”
The letter is also understood to draw attention to “the toxic and chaotic environment” they say was created by Kanye, as well as “a very sick pattern of predacious behaviour toward women”.
An Adidas spokesperson told Reuters: “It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true. However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations.”
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Earlier in the week, one of Adidas’s largest shareholders, Union Investment, wrote to the company asking for more information about the claims, and when the internal allegations were first raised with management.
West’s fashion brand Yeezy was initially a collaboration launched with Nike in 2009, but transferred to Adidas in 2013. At the time Kanye said the move was due to a dispute over royalties.
West has previously spoken publicly about suffering from a “pornography addiction”, saying it “destroyed my family”.
He split with Kim Kardashian after six years of marriage. She is also mother to his four children.
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The rapper has recently faced a backlash following antisemitic comments on social media, resulting in his agent letting him go, as well as his bank JP Morgan cutting ties.
Brands including Balenciaga, Foot Locker and Gap have also ended partnerships with the musician.
Meanwhile, West has announced he will be running for the 2024 US presidential elections and has asked Donald Trump to be his running mate.
West also ran for office in 2020, but only made it on to the presidential ballot in a handful of states due to a combination of missed deadlines and lack of signatures.
Kanye West has been approached for comment.
Donald Trump’s administration will be allowed to take steps to implement its proposal to end automatic birthright citizenship in the US following a decision by the Supreme Court.
Under the current rules, nearly anyone born on US territory has automatic citizenship rights – commonly known as “birthright citizenship”.
But in January, on his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending that right.
A series of lawsuits followed, with district courts issuing nationwide injunctions aiming to block the order from taking effect.
The Supreme Court on Friday voted 6-3 to allow the Trump administration to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by judges so that they apply only to states, groups and individuals that sued.
This means the birthright citizenship proposal can likely move forward at least in part in the states that challenged it, as well as those that did not.
Campaigners argue that restricting automatic birthright citizenship is an erosion of people’s constitutional rights. Pic: AP
People demonstrated outside the Supreme Court in May. Pic: Reuters
The US president responded with a post on Truth Social by welcoming the ruling as a “giant win”.
At a news conference at the White House, he said: “In recent months, we’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president… to dictate the law for the entire nation… this was a colossal abuse of power.”
He went on to suggest the current birthright was being abused and had originally been designed for a different era, to give the descendants of slaves the right to citizenship.
“It wasn’t meant for people trying to scam the system and come into the country on a vacation. It was meant for the babies of slaves. Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship,” he said.
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In a wide-ranging news conference, he also said he would consider bombing Iran again if they continued their nuclear programme and expects the country to open itself to international inspections.
He also said he was preparing fresh trade tariffs for several countries and had secured mineral rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is signing a peace deal with Rwanda at the White House to end years of fighting.
Friday’s Supreme Court decision was focused on cases filed in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state.
The policy remains blocked for now in one additional state, New Hampshire, as a result of a separate lawsuit that is not before the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump’s plan has the backing of 21 other states.
Pic: picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Friday’s ruling was decided on a 6-3 vote following a divide on ideological lines, with conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.
Mr Trump previously helped shape the makeup of the court with the appointment of three judges, ensuring a 6-3 conservative majority, though past rulings have still not always gone in his favour.
It has long been widely accepted, including by legal scholars on the left and right in the US, that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers automatic citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States.
Mr Trump wants that restricted to only those with at least one parent who is a US citizen or permanent resident.
Friday’s ruling does not examine the legal merits of the policy, but only whether judges had the authority to put it on hold across the entire country.
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As a result of the ruling, the proposal can potentially move forward nationwide, although individuals could still file their own lawsuits at the state level.
Those currently challenging the policy could also still reinstate injunctions which are less broad in scope.
The US president and his allies have been harshly critical of judges who have blocked aspects of his agenda, although it is not a new phenomenon for courts to impose nationwide injunctions.
His administration has battled against judges who have issued nationwide injunctions in response to a bold and aggressive use of executive power to implement a controversial agenda, including ramping up deportations, downsizing federal agencies, targeting law firms and universities and firing thousands of federal employees.
An Egyptian man has admitted federal charges after kicking a customs dog at a US airport, authorities say.
Hamad Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, pleaded guilty to “harming animals used in law enforcement” during an appearance in the US District Court of eastern Virginia on Wednesday.
Five-year-old male beagle Freddie allegedly detected more than 100lbs (45kg) of undeclared agricultural products in Marie’s luggage after he arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.
When Freddie’s handler started questioning the passenger, he kicked the 25lb (11kg) animal so hard that it was lifted off the ground, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
CCTV captured the moment Freddie was kicked. Pic: US Homeland Security
A veterinarian determined that Freddie suffered contusions to his right rib area as a result of being kicked.
Marie was placed in handcuffs by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who found 55lbs (24.9kg) of beef meat, 44lbs (20kg) of rice, 15lbs (6.8kg) of eggplant, cucumbers and bellpeppers, 2lbs (0.9kg) of corn seeds, and 1lb (0.5kg) of herbs in his luggage, according to authorities.
All agricultural products were seized as they are prohibited, to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the country.
“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over 100lbs of undeclared and prohibited agricultural products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenceless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” said Christine Waugh, the CBP’s director for the area port of Washington DC.
“We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job.
“Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”
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Marie was credited with time served after being taken into custody on Tuesday and was ordered to pay the veterinarian’s fee of $840 (£612) for Freddie’s treatment, a court filing shows.
He was also told to immediately report to CBP for removal from the US, and he left the country on a flight to Egypt at 12.30pm local time on Thursday.
An Egyptian man has admitted federal charges after kicking a customs dog at a US airport, authorities say.
Hamad Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, pleaded guilty to “harming animals used in law enforcement” during an appearance in the US District Court of eastern Virginia on Wednesday.
Five-year-old male beagle Freddie allegedly detected more than 100lbs (45kg) of undeclared agricultural products in Marie’s luggage after he arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.
When Freddie’s handler started questioning the passenger, he kicked the 25lb (11kg) animal so hard that it was lifted off the ground, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
CCTV captured the moment Freddie was kicked. Pic: US Homeland Security
A veterinarian determined that Freddie suffered contusions to his right rib area as a result of being kicked.
Marie was placed in handcuffs by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who found 55lbs (24.9kg) of beef meat, 44lbs (20kg) of rice, 15lbs (6.8kg) of eggplant, cucumbers and bellpeppers, 2lbs (0.9kg) of corn seeds, and 1lb (0.5kg) of herbs in his luggage, according to authorities.
All agricultural products were seized as they are prohibited, to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the country.
“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over 100lbs of undeclared and prohibited agricultural products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenceless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” said Christine Waugh, the CBP’s director for the area port of Washington DC.
“We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job.
“Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”
Read more from Sky News:
British man charged with leading hacking scheme
Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles home broken into
Marie was credited with time served after being taken into custody on Tuesday and was ordered to pay the veterinarian’s fee of $840 (£612) for Freddie’s treatment, a court filing shows.
He was also told to immediately report to CBP for removal from the US, and he left the country on a flight to Egypt at 12.30pm local time on Thursday.
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