Rapper Kanye West and his team may be on the hook for seven MILLION dollars!
In court documents obtained by The Blast on Thursday, July 14, the “Donda” rapper is being sued by Phantom Labs, who claims that they worked on several major projects with Ye – including his canceled Coachella performance – but Ye never paid up.
Kanye West Sued For $7 Million Dollars Over Alleged Nonpayment
According to the lawsuit, filed by attorney Howard King, Phantom Labs claims that they worked on several projects with the Yeezy fashion designer from June 2021 to March 2022. One of the four events was Kanye’s Sunday Services, which he has become known for.
Another event was a listening party for his eleventh studio album, “Donda 2.” The album was exclusively released on Stem Player back in February. A third event was the “Free Larry Hoover” show that he performed with the “Hotline Bling” singer Drake.
The other event that Phantom Labs is suing for is Ye’s canceled 2022 Coachella performance. A source close to the “City of Gods” rapper told E! News that he dropped out of the music festival to “focus on himself,” adding, “It’s a lot of pressure and stress on him right now.”
Kanye West Allegedly Owes Company For Several Other Major Concerts
Ye dropped out of the music festival only days before it was scheduled to begin on April 15. At the time, he was going through a lot of family drama amid his public divorce from “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star Kim Kardashian. The two share four children: North, 9, Saint, 6, Psalm, 4, and Chicago, 2.
The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia later replaced Ye at the festival and joined stars like “Happier Than Ever” singer Billie Eilish and “Sign of the Times” singer Harry Styles at the performance. However, a lot of work had gone into preparing for the event, and so Phantom Labs claims that they should be paid for not only the work that they did but also the cancelation fee they were charged when Ye dropped out of the line-up at the last minute.
Phantom Labs Claims Ye Paid At First… And Then Bills Started To Pile Up
Phantom Labs is being repped by powerhouse attorney Howard King, who has been named as one of The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100 Lawyers in Entertainment.” King was actually the lead counsel in the Metallica v. Napster case in 2000 when Metallica took on Napster and won.
In a statement provided to The Blast from a spokesperson for Phantom Labs:
“We are incredibly proud of the work that we did with Ye and are disappointed that such a fruitful relationship has come to this. A celebrity weaponizing fame and reputation to take advantage of eager collaborators is simply unacceptable.”
In the court documents, Phantom Labs claims that they were on good terms with Kanye West at first. They claim that the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” rapper did pay his bills… at first. However, over time, they allege that his bills began to pile up until Ye owed them more than $6 million dollars.
Phantom Labs claims that Ye told them that he was going to use the reported $9 million dollar sum that he was supposed to get from performing at Coachella to pay off all of his debts. However, when the “No Church in the Wild” singer backed out of the festival, he did not receive the expected payment.
If that weren’t enough, Phantom Labs claims that they were charged $1.1 million dollars in cancelation fees related to Ye’s no-show appearance at Coachella that they want Ye to cover.
Overall, Phantom Labs is suing Kanye West for breach of oral contract, quantum meruit, promissory estoppel, and account stated. They are looking for a jury to award them the $7,154,177.67 dollars that they claim that Ye owes them, “plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, comprising the approved budgeted and invoiced amounts.” They are also requesting any “other relief” that the Court “deems just and proper.”
The company tells The Blast, “We are incredibly proud of the work that we did with Ye and are disappointed that such a fruitful relationship has come to this. A celebrity weaponizing fame and reputation to take advantage of eager collaborators is simply unacceptable.”
It should be noted that this is not the first non-payment lawsuit that Ye has been slapped with. Earlier this week, Fashion United reported that stylist David Casavant filed a lawsuit against Kanye West and his Yeezy company in New York.
Casavant is accusing Ye of keeping thirteen rare luxury brand products and not paying monthly rental fees on them. The stylist claims that he has been sending invoices to Ye dating back to 2020, but alleges that Kanye has yet to pay off the balance on his account or return the missing items.
According to this lawsuit, Ye and his company owe him $195,100 dollars for the actual items and $221,801 dollars in rental fees.
