Kanye West’s former attorneys have finally tracked down the elusive artist and cut ties with him, even as he faces a slew of lawsuits, according to reports.
Many companies and business partners severed ties with the West amid his racist and antisemitic behavior last fall, but his lawyers had to serve him with legally required notice before dropping him as a client. The rapper, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, led the attorneys of Greenberg Traurig LLP on a wild goose chase for months, Billboard reported, evading their attempts to serve him.
After the “Runaway” performer had dodged the attorneys, including changing his phone number, the firm considered taking the extraordinary measure of buying an advertisement in local Los Angeles newspapers to get his attention, Billboard said, citing legal filings. But on Jan. 27, attorneys were able to locate and serve Ye notice through an unnamed attorney.
“The address at which Ye was personally served is not one that is publicly affiliated with Ye or his businesses, but one that Ye still frequents,” the rapper’s former lawyers wrote in the court filings. “The location also appears to be primarily used by persons and entities not affiliated with Ye or his businesses.”
Attorneys with Greenberg Traurig were not immediately available Monday for comment.
Ye continues to face numerous other lawsuits and owes millions to former business associates and music labels, Business Insider reported late last year. His legal woes include copyright infringement allegations stemming from music sampling for his 2022 album, “Donda 2,” the report said, as well as contract disputes in which many claim the artist failed to pay them for their work.
Among them was an ex-business manager who was suing the Yeezy designer for $4.5 million, the Sun reported, alleging he wasn’t paid for 18 months of work as a financial advisor. The former manager also struggled to locate Ye to serve him that lawsuit. Ye’s elusive behavior fed into unsubstantiated rumors that the rapper had gone missing.
Most of Ye’s business associates, including his closest friends, left him throughout last year as he continued to make hate-filled statements about Jewish people, denied the Holocaust and criticized Hitler. He was banned from Twitter in December for violating its rules on inciting violence.
Last month, Ye reportedly had a wedding ceremony with Australian architect Bianca Censori, who works for Yeezy. The couple has not filed a certificate that would make it an official marriage.
Two months earlier, Ye and Kim Kardashian finalized their divorce. The couple continue to co-parent their four young children, an experience that the beauty mogul and reality TV personality recently admitted has been “really f— hard.”