Is Kanye West on the Run As Commercial Eviction Looms, Creditors' Claims and Unpaid Taxes Spiral?
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Money images by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash
Kanye West, legally known as Ye, seems to have gone underground, although TMZ reported a single Kanye citing in LA in December. A former business manager for the rapper Thomas St. John has filed a $4.5 million lawsuit against West but is unable to serve him with papers. St. John has requested an extension from the court.
Update 12/29/2022: Greenberg Traurig LLP
A legal firm that has represented Kanye West for years in business deals and both sides of copyright litigation is trying to withdraw as the rapper’s attorney. In this case Ye is the defendent and Greenberg Traurig cannot serve West with a copy of Judge Analisa Torres’ order that allows them to withdraw.
After West was served with the initial paperwork related to Greenberg Traurig’s intention to step down as his lawers, Kanye went dark.
"Ye ceased responding to GT's attempts to contact him, and despite diligent efforts and the use of a process server, GT has been unable to locate Ye or serve him," Greenberg Traurig attorney Justin MacLean wrote to Judge Torres.
In a follow-up letter on December 21, MacLean said they still couldn't find West and asked the judge for an extension. They believe their texts continue to be received by West, but there is no response.
In an order issued regarding West’s alleged theft of a sample from the 1986 Marshall Jefferson song "Move Your Body" for his song "Flowers”, judge Torres ordered the rapper to inform her by January 4 whether he intends to get a new lawyer or to represent himself in his defense.
Sample clearance is a regular part of what any record label does, but West released the song "Flowers" on his album "Donda 2," which he produced independently.
"The unauthorized sample taken by West is repeated at least 22 times throughout 'Flowers,'" the lawsuit alleges. via Business Insider
Previously: Yeezy Rent Eviction Looming
Reports are that West’s Yeezy offices in California are on the verge of eviction after missing both November and December’s rent payments of $31,477.40 per month.
To the best of AOC’s knowledge, West’s company has not yet been formally evicted by the court, but presumably Ye cannot enter the premises, which should be locked if he’s 60 days behind in rent, with another payment due January 1, 2023.
If Kanye is on the run and unable to be served with legal eviction, his commercial landlord can file a notice of abandonment early in the process — as little as 3 days after initial missed rent payment if signs are that property was not used recently and attempts to find the tenant are not successful.
Unpaid Taxes and Lawsuits
State of California
Kanye West’s fashion brand Yeezy owes $600,000 in unpaid taxes to the state of California, based on reporting from NBC.
“Multiple California tax liens, adding up to $600,000, that’s certainly a sign of either extreme incompetence or extreme cash problems,” said USC Gould School of Law Professor Edward McCaffery, who specializes in tax law. “That is kind of an Amber Alert for the financial health of the enterprise.”
US Federal Income Taxes
In late November West, legally known as Ye, said he owed an estimated $50 million in unpaid federal income taxes before any penalties. The IRS reprotedly froze four of his bank accounts. JP Morgan informed West in October 2022 that they were closing his accounts in November 2022 for multiple reasons including his mounting public antisemitism.
Unpaid Creatives and Lawsuits
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based creative Katelyn Mooney alleges that West and his Yeezy brand owes her over $300,000 in damages and unpaid invoices related to a photo shoot she was hired to produce in September.
Mooney joins what is probably a long list of independent contractors with unpaid invoices. The creative sued Kanye West and his Yeezy brand in Manhattan Supreme Court in early December 2022.
Mooney was hired by West on Sept. 11, 2022, as an independent contractor to produce a shoot on Sept. 13, 2022, for Yeezy’s new line of SHDZ sunglasses for an agreed amount of $110,000.
Once all assets were delivered to Yeezy on Sept. 14, 2022, Mooney submitted her invoice, as agreed, but has only been paid $15,000.
Nick Knight, Candice Swanepoel for Yeezy
One assumes that master photographer Nick Knight of Show Studios will be getting in line with his probably unpaid invoices from this photoshoot with Candice Swanepoel in support of West’s Yeezy shades.
Note that AOC is speculating here about whether Nick Knight and crew have been or will be paid for their work. On a priority list, they should be high up in the important people to take care of, but with Kanye’s bank accounts being frozen over a major claims of unpaid taxes, even Nick Knight is not a regulatory priority.
