Kanye reinstated to Twitter as Adidas releases second batch of Yeezy sneakers

Kanye West’s Twitter account has been reinstated on the social media platform that is now known as X.

Ye, as the rapper now calls himself, had his account suspended in December last year after he posted an image that appeared to show a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish Star of David. Twitter’s owner Elon Musk said at the time the US rapper had “violated our rule against incitement to violence”.

However, Ye’s account has now reappeared. He is yet to post anything – with his most recent ‘tweet’ being one dated December 2, 2022, the day before his ban.

The rapper had been suspended two months previously after he posted anti-Semitic messages on both Twitter and Instagram. Musk is yet to comment on Ye being reinstated.

It comes just two days after Adidas said it was releasing a second batch of high-end Yeezy trainers after cutting ties with the star. The German sportswear brand has more than a billion dollars worth of the unsold shoes to unload, and is donating some of the profits to groups fighting antisemitism.

The company cut ties with Ye in October 2022 after he made antisemitic and other offensive remarks online and in interviews. That left Adidas holding 1.2 billion euros (£1 billion) worth of unsold Yeezys and searching for a responsible way to dispose of them.

The online sale, to start on Wednesday through Adidas smartphone apps and its website, follows an earlier set of sales in May. Models that will be available include the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, 500, and 700 as well as the Yeezy Slide and Foam RNR.

Adidas chief executive Bjorn Gulden said in May that selling the popular trainers and donating some of the profits was the best solution to deal with the unsold inventory and make a difference. He said the company spoke with non-governmental organisations and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.

Part of the profits from the sales of the Yeezy shoes will go to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by social justice advocate Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.

Shoes sold directly by Adidas in North America will include blue square pins established by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism as a symbol of solidarity in rejecting antisemitism, the company said.

Adidas declined to give details on numbers of shoes that would be released for sale and how much of the proceeds would be donated. Asked if Ye would receive royalties from the sales, the company would only say that “we will honour our contractual obligations and enforce our rights but will not share any more details”.