Kanye Threatens to Withhold Gap Line Without a Board Seat

(Bloomberg) -- Kanye West upped the pressure on his retail collaborators, threatening on Twitter to withhold any product releases with Gap Inc. until he secures a seat on the company’s board of directors. He also said he’ll push for collaboration between Adidas AG, which carries his shoe brand, and its biggest competitor, Nike Inc.

West was set to release a new line of apparel for men, women and kids called Yeezy Gap by next year. It’s not clear if he has the power to delay the line that already began the design phase. Gap declined to comment on West’s Twitter posts.

The musician, designer and entrepreneur also called out Adidas, saying he’ll wear rival Nike’s sneakers until he has a spot on the German company’s board. A spokesperson for Adidas declined to comment.

Snagging a board seat has been a recurring message from the artist. Earlier this month, West tweeted that “Black board seats matter.” West previously raised the idea of joining the boards, when he threatened to walk away from his deals with Gap and Adidas if not granted a spot.

In a later post, West said his “first pillar when I’m on the board of Adidas will be an Adidas Nike collaboration to support community growth.”

Kanye’s new round of tweets underscores the growing pressure companies across industries face to diversify their boards following nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd by police. About a dozen of the largest U.S. companies still lack any Black directors, according to data gathered by Bloomberg News, and Black directors accounted for only about 10% of new board seats in 2019, down from 11% in the previous two years.

Gap shares rose 0.6% at 1:45 p.m. in New York, reversing an earlier decline. Adidas declined in German trading Thursday.

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