NEW reports have been released about Kanye West’s concerning behavior before he was dropped by Adidas over his antisemitic comments.

The rapper lost his billion-dollar deal with Adidas last year after he went on a hateful rant about Jews on social media.

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Kanye West reportedly drew an antisemitic symbol on a shoe in a meeting with AdidasCredit: Getty

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Kanye had raked in millions through his partnership with AdidasCredit: AP
More information has come to light about what happened during Kanye’s partnership with the sportswear company that suggests there were red flags long before his online rant.

Megan Twohey, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, appeared on Friday’s episode of The Daily podcast to reveal what she discovered about the partnership.

At one point, she referenced a meeting that took place shortly after Kanye, 46, signed his contract with Adidas – which happened in November 2013 – in Germany, where the brand is headquartered.

“Kanye was in Germany…and they’re rolling out the red carpet for him,” the reporter began.

“They’re so excited about this budding partnership, and they’ve assembled shoes and mood boards with inspiration and sketches of designs of what the first shoe could potentially look like.”

She explained that Kanye wasn’t pleased with the designs presented to him and made a drastic move to get his point across.

“To emphasize his frustration, he takes a marker to the toe of a shoe design, and he draws a swastika,” Megan revealed.

“It was shocking, especially for Germans in the group where it is illegal in many cases to draw or otherwise present swastikas, and this is also especially sensitive for this particular company.

“The founder of Adidas, like many other businessmen at this time, belonged to the Nazi party,” she added.

A representative for Kanye did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.

Despite Kanye’s actions, Adidas continued their business with the hitmaker, who was already garnering massive success for the brand.

YE’S RANT

However, things came to an abrupt halt for the Yeezy designer in October 2022 when he wrote on Instagram: “Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.”

Several days later, the rap star posted to X, formerly known as Twitter: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con [sic] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Kanye proceeded to allege he wasn’t antisemitic because “black people are actually Jew also” and that he is the victim of a “Jewish underground media mafia.”

Days later, Kanye lost his deal with Adidas and Gap, and his music career has suffered as record labels have steered clear of the Grammy award winner.

ADIDAS RESPONSE

After severing ties with Kanye, also known as Ye, Adidas put out a statement: “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.

“Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

It continued: “After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.

“This is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to $246 million on the company’s net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter.”

Adidas has said they plan to sell the $1.2 billion worth of unsold Yeezy brand merchandise and give the proceeds to charity.

As for Kanye, he’s been traipsing around the world with his wife, 28-year-old Yeezy architect Bianca Censori, and working on reviving his career.

He planned a secret comeback performance in Italy last month, but it was reportedly canceled due to safety reasons.

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Kanye was dropped by Adidas in October 2022 for making antisemitic comments onlineCredit: Getty

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Adidas said they plan to sell the unsold Yeezy merchandise and donate the earnings to charityCredit: Getty

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Kanye has been traipsing around the world with his wife, Yeezy architect, Bianca CensoriCredit: Instagram/ ARKANGEL