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Kanye West sued over alleged $7.1m unpaid fees

Kanye West is being sued by a production company which is allegedly owed $7.1 million by the rapper for unpaid work.

TMZ reports that LA-based Phantom Labs worked with West, aka Ye, on “multiple large-scale projects” between June 2021 and March 2022.

“Despite receiving multiple demand letters from Phantom, defendants continue inexplicably to withhold payment,” states the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court, which names West as a defendant alongside several of his companies listed as “the Yeezy defendants”.

Variety notes that the company was paid for some of its work in the early stage of its relationship with West, but indicate that those payments arrived only under pressure.

West allegedly promised to settle his debt using the $9m he would reportedly receive for his scheduled Coachella headline set, but ultimately cancelled his performance two weeks before it was due to take place.

“We are incredibly proud of the work that we did with Ye and are disappointed that such a fruitful relationship has come to this”

“Of the approximately $7,154,177.67 owed, defendants have not paid Phantom one cent, despite repeated requests for payment and providing defendants detailed back-up,” it adds. “To the contrary, upon information and belief, since receiving this information, defendants and their representatives have circumvented Phantom, and attempted to pay directly certain of Phantom’s vendors and merchants that defendants want to work with in the future.”

The claim includes $1.1m in Coachella-related cancellation fees

“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 spokesperson for Phantom Labs says in a statement to Variety. “A celebrity weaponising fame and reputation to take advantage of eager collaborators is simply unacceptable.”

West is yet to respond to the lawsuit.


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