LOS ANGELES – A judge has granted a request by attorneys for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to withdraw as counsel for the rapper in a lawsuit alleging he owes $7.1 million in unpaid fees to a production company that worked on his behalf on various projects, including his canceled Coachella performance in April.
The suit brought July 14 in Los Angeles Superior Court by plaintiff Phantom Labs Inc. against the rapper and three companies, including Very Good Touring Inc., states that the production firm performed its obligations to Ye, but was not paid as required under the parties’ contract.
Ye’s lawyers, Nina D. Boyajian and Alana C. Srour of the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, filed their motion to withdraw on Nov. 2 with Judge Christopher K. Lui, who signed the orders on Tuesday.
In their court papers, the 45-year-old songwriter’s attorneys do not elaborate on what they say has been a breakdown in communications between them and their celebrity client, but state that Ye has made it “unreasonably difficult” for them to continue representing him and they can provide more details confidentially if necessary.
On Oct. 3, the same attorneys filed court papers stating the case should be dismissed, saying that Ye’s obligations were “excused in whole or in part due to (Phantom’s) failure to perform its contractual obligations.”
There is no hearing scheduled on the Ye attorneys’ recommendation for dismissal.
According to the suit, just weeks after promising to make Phantom whole from the reported $9 million payment the singer was to receive for his Coachella appearance, Ye without warning decided not to appear at the concert, allegedly reneging on promises to pay Phantom’s multimillion-dollar balance and leaving the plaintiff with an additional $1.1 million in Coachella-related cancellation fees and other expenses, the suit states.
Ye was expected to headline the closing night of each weekend on April 17 and April 24.
Phantom also worked on Ye and Drake’s “Free Larry Hoover” concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, according to the suit.
This was not the first time a lawyer had asked to withdraw as attorney for Ye. As recently as August, family law attorney Samantha Spector became the latest of multiple counsel to withdraw from representing the singer in his and Kim Kardashian’s divorce case.
