Kanye West: did Ye show explicit photos of Kim Kardashian to employees at Adidas, are ex-couple still friends?

Controversial rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been accused of sharing explicit images of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian with employees at Adidas.

It is also alleged that Ye, who was married to Kardashian from 2014 to 2021, showed staff at the sports brand pornographic pictures.

The singer supposedly showed naked pictures of his then-wife, including his own sex tape, to Adidas team members, according to a report released by Rolling Stone earlier this month.

The latest allegation is just one of a string of recent events which have caused Ye to become a controversial figure in the public eye. It all started back in October when he made alleged antisemitic comments on Twitter and he was then sued by the family of George Floyd for comments he made on a podcast.

Both have sparked a huge backlash, which led to him being banned from social media sites Twitter and Instagram and dropped from several high profile collaborations with brands including Adidas. Various other brands and companies that have cut ties with West including Balenciaga and Gap. He’s also had his wax figure removed from Madame Tussauds in London. All of this has also led to him being knocked off the Forbes rich list as he’s no longer a billionaire.

So, did West show explicit photos of Kardashian to Adidas staff, what else does the Rolling Stone report say, and are the former couple still friends? Here’s what you need to know.

Did Kanye West show explicit images of Kim Kardashian to Adidas staff?

It is alleged that West did show explicit images of his ex-wife to Adidas employees.

In the Rolling Stone report, which was published on Tuesday 22 November, one employee claimed that West, aged 45, showed him a picture of Kardashian, age 42, during a job interview in 2018 when the pair were married.

He said West allegedly said “my wife just sent me this” after showing him the photo, which he described as “very revealing and personal”. Another employee said that West had also shown an explicit photo of Kardashian to the creative team at Yeezy, the now broken collaboration between the American rapper and the German sportswear company Adidas in 2021. This was supposedly in 2021, the same year that West and Kardashian, who have four children together, filed for a divorce.

West was “not afraid to show explicit images or talk about situations that should be kept private,” a third employee told Rolling Stone.

What else did the Rolling Stone report say?

The employees were speaking in an open letter called ‘The Truth About Yeezy: A Call to Action for Adidas Leadership,’ a copy of which the Rolling Stone reviewed. In the letter, Yeezy employees also accused Adidas executives of allowing West to create an “abusive” work culture by “turning a blind eye” to his problematic behaviour which they called “abhorrent”.

The staff used the letter to urge the Adidas board to look into “the toxic and chaotic environment that Kanye West created” and “a very sick pattern of predacious behaviour toward women”. The letter stated: “He (West) has, in years past, exploded at women in the room with offensive remarks, and would resort to sexually disturbing references when providing design feedback.”

This all comes just a month after Adidas cut ties with Ye due to his alleged antisemitic comments on social media which the company said were “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous”.

According to Rolling Stone, who has seen all of the claims, West "did more than test the boundaries of professionalism".

West has previously admitted being “addicted to pornography” since he was just five years old, admitting he was so besotted with the explicit images.

He told Apple Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe in 2019: "Playboy was my gateway into full-on pornography addiction. My dad had a Playboy left out at age five, and it’s affected almost every choice I made for the rest of my life from age five to now, having to kick the habit."

Kardashian became famous in 2007 after a sex tape, which had been filmed in 2002, of herself and her then-boyfriend Ray J was leaked by an adult entertainment company online.

Are Kanye West and Kim Kardashian still friends?

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are definitely not friends. Since they split last year, West has made a number of alleged negative comments about his ex-wife in public.

He posted a series of private text messages with Kardashian in a now deleted post on Instagram back in September, saying she makes decisions about their children because she’s ‘half white’. Then, in October, he took another swipe at her - this time for her Skims collection, describing the marketing campaigns for the clothing brand as being “overly sexualized”.

West has also used social media to vent about family life with his former wife, which Kardashian has now said she is “exhausted by”. Kardashian has also recently called out West for his supposed antisemitic comments. She tweeted: “Hate speech is never OK or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end.”