Kanye West Secures New Legal Counsel As Battle With The Gap Intensifies

Kanye 'Ye' West switched things up in the legal department amid his ongoing $2 million brawl with The Gap.

The rapper reportedly reshuffled his legal representation, consulting a new attorney to help him take on his case with The Gap, which may now involve him showing up for a deposition.

Kanye 'Ye' West and Gap fell out of the deal after he accused the retail company of failing to comply with an agreement to lease a commercial building in Los Angeles as a store for Ye's clothing line with The Gap. 

The producer hired a new attorney for his ongoing case with his former partners at The Gap, who entered into a design deal with him. Ye's switch came as the company demanded he finally attend a deposition in their $2 million legal battle.

Court documents confirmed that the attorneys representing the retail company were contacted by a legal rep who identified himself as non-litigation counsel for Ye and his company, Yeezy.

The new attorney, Manoj Shah, works with Brand Counsel PC. The Gap lawyers noted that Shah had yet to make an official appearance in court, but they have been addressing him as Ye's lawyer for the case.

In Touch confirmed that Shah's law firm does not handle litigation, so it would not represent Ye in the ongoing legal dispute. Ye terminated his former rep Brian Brumfield months ago on June 21. Brumfield noted that Ye also refused to "speak to counsel, and Ye refuses to pay counsel as well."

The Gap stated that it served the "Vultures" rapper on October 15, but his lawyer, Shah, informed the court days before that his client would not honor the invitation.

Shah also claimed that no documents would be produced on the deposition date. The Gap lawyers added that Ye never filed an official objection to the deposition in court.

The Gap accused Ye of dragging out the case. The company's lawyers said, "Gap has been diligently pursuing discovery and a deposition of Ye. Gap served Ye with its first round of discovery in December 2023."

They noted that two days after serving grossly deficient discovery responses, Ye decided to change his counsel. The Gap added:

"Once Yeezy's new counsel was up and running, meet and confer efforts commenced relating to the outstanding documents. Over a period of two months, between March and May 2024, Yeezy's counsel maintained that a search for documents was forthcoming, citing issues with locating and obtaining documents from his client."

They continued, "During this time period, Gap also attempted to schedule a deposition of Ye. Gap noticed depositions of the Yeezy Parties for September 19, 2024, October 11, 2024, and October 15, 2024."

The company explained that despite their attempts to agree on a suitable date for the deposition, Yeezy kept changing its counsel.

The Gap clarified that "although the Yeezy Parties' CFO informed Gap that new counsel, Manoj Shah of Brand Counsel PC, was to be assigned to the case, Mr. Shah has yet to make a formal appearance." The motion further stated:

"Based upon the foregoing, there is a strong appearance that the Yeezy Parties have been terminating counsel in order to delay and avoid discovery obligations in this case and, at a minimum, have had that result. Ye's deposition and production should be ordered to stop the gamesmanship."

The deposition was necessary as the company needed to question the rapper about some crucial facts in the case that began when The Gap was sued by a company in 2022.

Art City Center noted in its filing that The Gap leased a commercial building in Downtown Los Angeles for Ye's clothing line collaboration with The Gap.

Following the deal's failure between Ye and The Gap due to noncompliance with their agreement, Art City claimed The Gap had already modified the property in violation of the lease agreement's rules.

Art City then demanded that The Gap pay $800,000 in damages. The Gap countersued Ye and Yeezy for $2 million in damages, claiming the artiste and his team had control over the leased property.

The Gap insisted that the rapper and his team modified and redesigned the property without Art City's approval.

"The perfomance of the work not only breached the Strategic Agreement, but the manner of preparing for and performing the work caused the need for the repairs and restoration alleged in the complaint," the retail company wrote.

They also claimed that "by making and not repairing or restoring the foregoing alterations of the Premises that [Ye] made without Gap's participation or approval, [Ye] breached the Strategic Agreement and directly and proximately caused Gap to incur expenses to repair and restore the premises."

In September, The Blast reported that the rapper wrapped up a 2022 lawsuit whose proceedings began this February when Justin Poplawski filed a lawsuit against Ye in Los Angeles Superior Court. 

The victim demanded unspecified damages for medical expenses and the emotional trauma he claimed to have endured following the alleged attack.

Seven months later, Poplawski, who had accused Ye of assault and battery, informed the court that the agreement covered the entire case. In the filing, Poplawski's lawyer claimed the rapper physically assaulted his client with a clear intent to cause harm.

The lawyer stated that Ye repressing stuck Poplawski, leaving him "severely" injured and defenseless during the attack. Poplawski's legal team noted that the injuries he sustained were not just physical but emotionally traumatic ones.

They mentioned "past and future non-economic damages," including "physical pain, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, physical impairment, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and severe emotional distress."

The clash reportedly occurred on January 13, 2022, outside Soho Warehouse.  Ye allegedly began yelling at Poplawski and swore to "make a f—ing example out of" the fan,

Poplawski explained he had previously obtained West's autograph without hassle, and when the confrontation became violent, Ye refused to apologize for his outburst. 

Despite the allegations, Ye vehemently denied any wrongdoing or physically assaulting Poplawski. His legal team argued that the 47-year-old's actions were simply him defending himself. His attorney stated, "Ye was justified in doing any and/or all of the acts alleged in the Complaint."

They emphasized that Ye acted "reasonably and in good faith at all times material herein, based on all relevant facts and circumstances known to Ye at the time Ye so acted.

Will Ye's new legal relationship with Manoj Shah stand the test of time, or will it become statistics like the rest?