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Adidas has collaborated with celebrities in recent years, from Beyoncé to Missy Elliott and, most controversially, ex-Kanye West's Yeh.
Inspirational commercials and wildly popular sneaker collaborations have helped this global apparel brand leverage Black talent to generate billions of dollars worth of business profits.However, as luck's Lyla McClellan writes in a blockbuster new feature that they've been doing this as employees claim their companies are failing them when it comes to internal DEI efforts.
Current and former managers and executives at Adidas warned the company about the loss of top Black executives, tone-deaf attitudes toward Black employees, and the risks of working with Mr. Ye years before anti-Semitism collapsed. told her about negative attitudes towards black staff. .
A former employee who worked as a marketer for Ye's Yeezy sneaker collaboration spoke on a podcast about how he approached the company's management about anti-Black comments Ye made in 2018.
“My question is, how can I expect to come to work and give my all to this team? If I feel like the values we stand for here are represented, If not, you will be,” he said. Don't say anything about it? ”
When asked for comment, Adidas said: luck The company improved its overall diversity numbers and remained committed to its diversity goals. Regarding the former employees' comments, a spokesperson said: “We categorically disagree with these views as they do not accurately reflect the reality of our company or the feelings of our current employees.”
Read more about Adidas' fraught DEI efforts and the pitfalls of taking a superficial approach to inclusion efforts.
emma burley
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com
