Tech brand files $20mn lawsuit against Kanye West for non-payment
Popular rapper Kanye West might be running for office, but in the process is reportedly leaving a trail of small-to-moderate corporate companies across the world angry and fuming over non-payment for services he had ordered for. This time, it's tech company MyChannel, which has filed a $20 million lawsuit against Kanye's YEEZY brand of luxury sneaker shoes for not paying them for their services.
Representatives of MyChannel claimed they pooled in 10,000 man-hours for YEEZY. They also invested $7 million to relocate their headquarters twice. The lawsuit maintains that while MyChannel used their technology to create videos for the YEEZY sneakers, Kanye rebranded his company as YZY Tech, presented the same technology as his own before Adidas and copied it on Kanye's Sunday Service videos.
Thereafter, the company stopped working for Kanye but noticed that the rapper keeps using technology stolen from them to sell merchandise in Sunday Service. This prompted them to file a lawsuit against him and YEEZY for violating oral agreement, their NDA for using their technology without consent and seeking total damages crossing $20mn. Notably, this is just the latest blot on Kanye's business ethics.
In 2019, Japanese fabric brand Toki Sen-I Co had filed a lawsuit claiming non-payment of about $624,000 from YEEZY. Citing this ploy to "defraud hardworking, innocent vendors," the brand alleged that business with Kanye was good on small orders until he refused a down payment against a large fabric order. The company produced in good faith but he claimed to never receive the material.
The rapper also got flak from Sharon Osbourne, who criticized Kanye for getting the government sanction him a $2-5 million loan to pay his workers as COVID-19 policy. Sharon said he should return the money as his family is rich. Kanye also came under radar after declaring to shift his factories from Vietnam, Cambodia and China to Wyoming, which saves him $15mn in taxes.
