A former Yeezy employee said working for Kanye West was like being in a cult and she's had therapy since leaving the company

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A former Yeezy employee said working for Kanye West was like being in a cult and she's had therapy since leaving the company
Kanye West, also known as Ye.Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
  • A former Yeezy employee said the culture at the company was "cult-like," per Rolling Stone.
  • She told the publication she'd been trying "cult deprogramming" techniques since leaving Yeezy.
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A former Yeezy staffer told Rolling Stone the culture at the company was like a cult.

More than a dozen former Adidas and Yeezy employees spoke to the publication about their experiences at Yeezy. The collaboration between West and the sportswear company was terminated in October after nine years.

Adidas is investigating Yeezy's workplace environment after staffers wrote a letter to Adidas' CEO and executive board members urging them to address accusations that there was a "toxic" workplace environment at Yeezy. The letter was seen and reported by Rolling Stone.

The former Yeezy employee told the publication she had been looking for West's approval "and that's why we would work so much."

Since leaving Yeezy, the ex-employee said as part of her therapy she had tried "cult deprogramming," a tactic normally used to aid cult members in re-evaluating their situation.

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The Adidas spokesperson told Insider: "Adidas does not tolerate hate speech and offensive behavior and therefore has terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership. We have been and continue to be actively engaged in conversations with our employees about the events that lead to our decision to end the partnership. They have our full support and as we're working through the details of the termination.

"It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true. However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations."

Representatives for Yeezy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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