The illusion that Kanye West's anti-semitic outbursts in tweets last year were the sole instance of such behavior — and the only reason for his firing by Adidas — has been abruptly shattered by a bombshell New York Times report detailing toxic behavior by West over the entire duration of his nearly decade-long relationship at the company.

The disturbing and very public displays of hate speech by West, who prefers to go by Ye now, started as early as his very first pitch meeting with Adidas executives for Yeezy shoe design ideas. When he didn't like any of the visions he was shown by executives, West “grabbed a sketch of a shoe and took a marker to the toe, according to two participants. Then he drew a swastika.”

This mind-boggling reaction was followed up by similar antics again and again during his partnership with Adidas. As the New York Times article explains, “When the company ended the relationship last October, it appeared to be the culmination of weeks of Mr. West’s inflammatory public remarks — targeting Jews and disparaging Black Lives Matter — and outside pressure on the brand to cut ties. But it was also the culmination of a decade of Adidas’s tolerance behind the scenes.”

Among the other shameful acts Adidas was complicit in tolerating were West making Adidas executives watch pornography during a meeting and West advising a Jewish Adidas manager that he should “hang a photo of Hitler in his kitchen and kiss it every day to practice unconditional love.”

West repeatedly expressed an unsettling fondness for Hitler over his time at the company. He allegedly “told some Adidas colleagues that he admired Hitler’s command of propaganda, viewing him as a master marketer.”

West also publicly revealed, in 2018, to an Adidas executive and another manager “that he had paid a seven-figure settlement to the outgoing chief executive of his Yeezy operation, who had accused him of commending Hitler and creating a hostile workplace, according to someone familiar with the conversation.”

So why would Adidas tolerate this anti-semitic behavior for so long? The brand was extremely profitable for both Adidas and Kanye West. It was only when West starting tweeting out his abhorrent views that public pressure built on the company to end the partnership.

Even then, the dissolution of the deal took longer than it should have. After calling Black Lives Matter a scam last October, and announcing in tweets he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” West still had the gall to declare on the “Drink Champs” podcast that, “I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?”

West was criticized by politicians, Hollywood executives, other artists, Jewish leaders and his soon-to-be-ex-wife at the time Kim Kardashian. Finally, the report explains, “On Oct. 25, nine days after Mr. West declared that Adidas wouldn’t end his deal, the company did just that.”

The fact that Adidas took so long to fire Kanye West with a nearly ten year track record of inappropriate and prejudicial behavior is almost as shocking as the hate speech West espoused.