Adidas said on Friday it will release a second batch of high-end Yeezy sneakers after cutting ties with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, as the German sportswear brand looks to dump unsold sneakers while donating to groups that They fight antisemitism.
The online sale, due to start on Wednesday via Adidas’s smartphone apps and its website, follows an earlier set of sales in May. Models that will be available include Yeezy Boost 350 V2, 500 and 700, as well as Yeezy Slide and Foam RNR.
The company cut ties with Ye in October after he made anti-Semitic and other offensive remarks online and in interviews. That left Adidas with €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) on unsold Yeezys and looking for a responsible way to dispose of them.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said in May that selling the popular sneakers and donating part of the proceeds was the best solution to deal with unsold inventory and make a difference. He said that the company spoke with non-governmental organizations and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.
Part of the proceeds from the sales of the Yeezy shoes will go to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, led by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd.
Shoes sold directly by Adidas in North America they will include blue square pins established by the Robert Kraft Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism as a symbol of solidarity in rejecting anti-Semitism, the company said.
The Anti-Defamation League calls the sale “a thoughtful and caring resolution” to unsold merchandise and that “any attempt to turn the consequences of (Ye’s) actions into something that ultimately benefits society and the people he has served hurt is welcome.”
Adidas declined to give details about how many shoes would be released for sale and how much of the proceeds would be donated. When asked if Ye would receive royalties on the sales, the company only said that “we will meet our contractual obligations and we will assert our rights, but we will not share any further details.”
The company said Monday the first sale of Yeezy shoes helped its preliminary second-quarter financial results and helped improve its outlook for the year from a high-single-digit drop in revenue to a mid-single-digit drop.
That would still equate to an operating loss of $450 million. euros (more than $494 million) this year, instead of a loss of 700 million euros.
Adidas, which reports its earnings for the first half of the year on Thursday, said it expected future Yeezy sales to further boost its results.