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Adidas has had some major celebrity collaborations over the past few years, from Beyoncé to Missy Elliott, and most controversially, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
With inspirational commercials and a hugely popular sneaker collaboration, the global apparel brand has managed to leverage Black talent for billions worth of business gains. But as Fortune’s Lila MacLellan writes in a blockbuster new feature, they’ve done so while workers say the company has been failing their own employees when it comes to internal DEI efforts.
Current and former Adidas managers and executives told her about an exodus of top Black management, a tone deaf attitude towards Black employees, and a dismissive attitude towards Black staff who warned the company about the risks of working with Ye years before his anti-Semitic meltdown.
One former employee, who worked as a marketer for Ye’s Yeezy sneaker collaboration, described on a podcast how he went to the company’s leadership team about anti-Black comments the musician made back in 2018.
“My question was, How can you expect me to show up to work and give all that I give to this team,” he said, “if we don’t feel like the values that we carry are represented here—and you’re not saying anything about it?”
When asked for comment, Adidas told Fortune the company had improved its overall diversity numbers, and remained dedicated to its diversity goals. About former employees speaking out, a spokesperson said: “We vehemently disagree with these views as they do not accurately reflect the reality of our company or the sentiments of our current employees.”
You can read more about Adidas’ troubled DEI efforts, and the pitfalls of taking a superficial approach to inclusion efforts, here.
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
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