On top of running for president, dealing with the fallout of his Adidas partnership, and facing a lawsuit from former teachers at his Donda Academy, Kanye West is now being met with the wrath of his former collaborators at Gap.
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The clothing brand filed a $2 million lawsuit this week against West, eight months removed from the two parties ending their Yeezy Gap line. Revealed in documents obtained by TMZ, the suit stems from West making unauthorized alterations to the Art City Center in Los Angeles in 2021 and 2022. When West was still crafting clothing designs for Gap, the company leased out Art City Center as a store for strictly Yeezy Gap merchandise.
According to Art City Center, West and Gap changed the layout of the facility without their permission. This first led to Art City Center suing Gap, as Gap would then turn to West to cover for them, considering the building was under his jurisdiction at the time. In their suit against West, Gap states that their original agreement with West cleared them of any liability in instances like these, per TMZ.
Gap’s lawsuit against West comes less than a month after a similar situation happened at West’s other former retail partner Adidas. On May 1, Adidas shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against the German sportswear company, claiming that Adidas left them ill-equipped for the departure of the Yeezy line from the brand in late 2022. West and Yeezy’s fractured relationship with Adidas led the company to forecast its first yearly loss in Adidas’ history for 2023.
“We outright reject these unfounded claims,” Adidas said in response to the suit. “[We] will take all necessary measures to vigorously defend ourselves against them.”
As for the remaining Yeezy Adidas inventory, which reportedly amounted to more than $1 billion worth of clothes and shoes, the company now plans to sell a portion of the remaining stock. The proceeds made from these sales will be donated to charities such as The Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, founded by George Floyd’s family. West will also earn a percentage of these profits.
Photo by Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
