Kanye West turns attention to Gap after Adidas feud, until his legal team tells him to cool it

Kanye West, amid a public fallout with the brass at Adidas, focused his attention on The Gap Monday, and was subsequently told to avoid mentioning the clothier by his legal team.

The 45-year-old musical artist on Monday posted on Instagram text that read, ‘Dear Ye, Your legal team recommends that we refrain from posting anything on Gap for another 10 days.’

He added the phrase, ’10 days’ in the caption of the post.

West last week indicated that he also had enmity for Gap, more than two years after he inked a 10-year deal with the company. He indicated he was upset, alleging that the business was having meetings about him without him being present. 

Prior to getting shut down by his legal team, West suggested he had found some satisfaction in his dealing with Adidas. 

‘I could hear the joy in my teams voices today [sic],’ he wrote in the Apple notes app. 

‘Adidas don’t want no more smoke. The move credit’s are rolling. This war wasn’t about money. It was about control of our families. Of our businesses. Of our story. Or our voice [sic],’ he wrote. 

‘I gave them the opportunity to settle this quietly,’ he added, before promising more to come. ‘Now it’s time for Gap…. : ).’

Ye also reposted a comment from his friend, the producer Swizz Beatz, who stood up for the controversial rapper.

After Swizz posted a photo of the shoes that West believes ripped off his Yeezy line, which included a red ‘X’ through it, Swizz wrote that it was ‘DEAD WRONG.’

‘If we let them do this to @kanyewest it will happen to us also! This man created this groundbreaking innovation and it should be respected as a creative !’ he wrote,’ adding, ‘@adidas you’re supposed to be original do the correct thing please !!!’

Kanye included another post with a smiling photo of Swizz, captioning it, ‘This the energy.’

Earlier on Monday, West continued his war of words aimed at Adidas executives, as he said he needs to buy his own major shoe company in order to be the chief decision maker. He shared a text post about wanting to make a major move like Authentic Brands CEO Jamie Salter’s purchase of Reebok from Adidas earlier this year.

He went on to claim that he’s went to JP Morgan to inquire about an acquisition  but managing director and vice chairman of investment banking, Jing Ulrich, is on the board of Adidas.

Kanye wrote to his 17 million followers: ‘I need a shoe company like how Jamie Salter bought Reebok or I’ll take over some shoe factories.

‘I’ve went to JP Morgan but of course they won’t give me no deal flow cause Jin(g) Ulrich is on the board of both Adidas and JP Morgan. What shoe company will give me control. I need to be the head of the board and chief decision maker.’

He captioned the text post with a mention of his late mother Donda West.

The All Of The Lights hitmaker said: ‘My mama was an English professor and I was an English major I know how to speak correct English but I’m here to correct the English.’

West on Monday evening received words of support from Swizz Beatz, 43, who said that West was taking a rightful stand amid the business dispute.

‘I usually mind my business but this is DEAD WRONG! If we let them do this to @kanyewest it will happen to us also!’ said the rapper/producer, whose full name is Kasseem Daoud Dean. ‘This man created this groundbreaking innovation and it should be respected as a creative!

‘YE is only asking for his work to be respected and not stolen that’s not crazy to me !! We not buying these !!!!!!!!!!!! @adidas you’re supposed to be original do the correct thing please!!!’

West has had a very successful partnership with the Germany based shoe giant with his Adidas Yeezy line, which launched in 2015.

This was not the first time West has mentioned executive Jing as the previous day he bashed her and other enemies including Adidas executive Daniel Cherry, Kid Cudi, Pete Davidson, and more.

The rapper-turned-designer publicly declared a feud with Adidas, whom he’s partnered with via his Yeezy empire.

Additionally, he added fuel to his fallouts with Cudi and Davidson.

Directing his furor at Cherry, Adidas’ Senior Vice President/General Manager, he let off a slew of threatening and angry messages. 

In one of the posts he shared a doctored image of Cudi and Cherry standing side by side with an Adidas logo pasted on each of their chests. 

He joked that ‘I’m sure this pic gonna send adidas stock through the ceiling Your welcome Jing Ulrich who is on the board at adidas and JP Morgan So it makes sense now that when I wanted to sale JP Morgan went silent.’

In line with his previous posts, the caption consisted of one long run-on sentence with grammatical and spelling errors, making it difficult to wholly discern.  

Set against a black background, he typed in all capital white letters, ‘I guarantee you’ll have to relocate before I’m legally finished with you.’

West called the executive a ‘venture capitalist who’s [sic] only adventure is capitalism,’ continuing, ‘Can’t create so they try to out count the creatives. Die slow.’

In a separate but equally upset post he added, ‘F— A VC. NOW WHAT.’

‘Ye’s frustration stems from feeling left out of managing the Yeezy Gap brand he helmed. 

West had posted and deleted a fake New York Times newspaper that falsely claimed Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted had ‘died’ at 60.

The rapper wrote the caption: ‘I’m not here to be liked I’d you don’t like it leave’ [sic], he said.

Just weeks prior, Kanye, 45, blasted Kasper for ‘blatant copying’ of his Yeezy slides after Adidas unveiled their Adilette slides.

Last week it was revealed that Kasper is leaving Adidas in 2023, after working with the brand since 2016. 

In early August, Kanye posted another fake NY Times newspaper front page announcing the ‘death’ of Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian’s relationship – after they had split.

He later reposted it and put a new caption: ‘God loves Us;’ it is still up on his Instagram page.

Last week, Adidas announced Kasper was leaving the company in 2023; he started with the brand in 2016, according to CNBC.

His contract with the company was set to end in 2026; Kasper and Adidas did not elaborate on why he was leaving before the contract ran out.

He will stay in the role until a successor has been appointed. 

Soon after, Kanye posted a snap of Daniel Cherry, who is the SVP/General Manager of Adidas.

He wrote in the caption: ‘I’m a nice person but I’m starting to feel like not being nice. And don’t try to tell me what gang you used to role with in Philly this time.’

Earlier this month – after nearly a decade of collaborating together, Kanye fired a shot at Adidas for ‘blatant copying’ of his Yeezy slides.

West fired a direct shot at Kasper, stating, ‘To Kasper I’m not standing for this blatant copying no more.’

‘To all sneaker culture To every ball player rapper or even if you work at the store This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can’t cause they’ll loose their contract or be called crazy,’ he continued.

‘Bravery is not being afraid. Bravery is overcoming your fear for your truth. This Ye with the blue paint on my face,’ he added.

‘These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent. This shoe is a fake Yeezy made by adidas themselves I’m not talking to DC about this either Kasper come talk to me. Happy Monday,’ West concluded.

West and Adidas’ apparel and shoe deal was first announced in December 2013, with the first collection dropping in February 2015.

That line included his first shoe dubbed Yeezy Boosts, which were limited to just 9,000 pairs available only in New York City… which sold out in 10 minutes.

Adidas first unveiled their new Adilette slides earlier this month, which will retail at $55, and the 45-year-old rapper is none too happy about it.

West took to Instagram, blasting the shoe company and CEO Kasper Rorstad for the slides, which he dubbed, ‘fake Yeezys.’

‘THIS IS YE driving down the same street Kobe passed on. Maybe I feel that Mamba spirit right now,’ West began, possibly hinting his deal with Adidas is coming to an end. 

NBA legend Kobe Bryant signed a six-year deal with Adidas before he was drafted straight out high school in 1996, but Bryant bought himself out of his Adidas contract in 2002. 

After waiting a whole year as part of his opt-out clause, he signed a new deal with Nike in 2003, where he remained for the rest of his career. 

 It’s unclear if Adidas or Rorstad plan on responding publicly to West’s post, though they have stuck by his side in the past.

Back in 2018, when West made controversial comments about slavery being a ‘choice,’ Rorstad defended West.

‘Kanye has been and is a very important part of our strategy and has been a fantastic creator, and that’s where I’m going to leave it. I’m not going to comment on every comment he or anyone else is making,’ Rorstad said in a Bloomberg interview in May 2018.

The fake newspaper post comes weeks after his original one he shared after ex wife Kim Kardashian’s relationship with Pete Davidson – which he dubbed Skete – came to an end.

He posted it two days after Kim and Pete split. 

‘Skete Davidson dead at age 28,’ – a celebration of Pete’s dead relationship status with Kim, 41, rather than 28-year-old Pete’s life status. 

Kim and Kanye married in 2014 but she filed for divorce in February 2021; she was declared legally single in March 2022.

Kim and Pete were first linked the October 2021.

Kanye had been trying to win his wife – who he shares four children with – and famously took a shot at Pete when he buried a replica of him alive and decapitated him in a new music video for his song Easy.

The musician presented a series of graphic depictions via clay animation aimed at the Saturday Night Live personality in March.

He also took a shot at Kid Cudi again with the mock up newspaper, writing at the bottom of it: ‘I know what you’re thinking… who is Kasper? but even less importantly who is Kid Cudi?’ 

For the Skete post, Kanye took a jab at Kid Cudi and wrote ‘Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers.’

This is in reference to Kid Cudi cutting his headline set at Rolling Loud short on July 22 due to people throwing bottles at him. He filled in for Kanye at the last minute but then Kanye turned up later anyway and performed. 

Kanye, who goes by the name of Ye was close friends with Cudi since the mid 2010s and while they’ve had a rocky friendship, they were said to have fallen out again this year due to his friendship with Pete.