Yeezy

Ye, The Artist Formerly Known As Kanye West, Seems A Bit Peeved That The World Won’t Adhere To His Name Change

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You may know Kanye West as a Grammy Award-winning rapper, chart-topping producer, and clothing designer, but that’s who he “used to be.” From this point forward and in perpetuity, he will hence be referred to as Ye. Well, technically, this isn’t entirely new information, as he legally made the switch back in August 2021.

However, he’s been lax in enforcing it professionally. But that changes today (March 23). In a letter shared by his team (dated February 26), the “Carnival” musician’s chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, made it clear that Ye’s quite peeved that the public won’t adhere to the name change.

“He didn’t take the decision to change his name, potentially sacrificing some of the immense value captured by the brand ‘Kanye West,’ lightly,” he wrote. “The change was made fully, legally, and permanently. This is who he is now. His name is Ye.”

The strongly worded note did not stop there. Later in the document, it touched on America’s history involving chattel slavery. “He has on several occasions referred to it as his slave name,” he wrote. “Ye is a Black man in America who wants the right to full self-determination just like everyone else.”

Read the complete statement below.

YesJulz Called Out Kanye West Staffers ‘Who Don’t Know The Slightest Things About Culture’ In A Response To Her Firing

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yesjulz
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Less than a day after being fired from Kanye West’s Yeezy brand, Julieanna Goddard — aka YesJuz — has addressed her sudden removal in such a way that the brand is now apparently reconsidering terminating her contract. To make a long-ish story short, Goddard had been heavily involved in the promotion of Kanye’s Vultures trio of albums, but was accused of violating a non-disclosure agreement by holding a Twitter Spaces to get feedback from fans.

After Yeezy publicly announced her firing — in just about the least professional way possible — Goddard posted a tweet thread on Twitter addressing the firing and calling out Yeezy staff, particularly chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos, for being unqualified for their roles in the company.

“Ye is up against the system. Having the discussion with fans in an open forum setting was unconventional, but it allowed for inclusivity & open visibility for an entire fan base to opt in, give feedback, be heard, connect with one another to combine efforts. Which is what i feel is needed for Ye to stay on top for these next two runs. I was also given specific direction to ‘rally’ the fans, let them each lead their own chapters, activate within their locations- etc. This was MY way of doing so. I am not a conventional woman & this is why i worked at the company i worked at in the first place.”

“I never wanted work done for free. I wanted to help the fans present their work to Ye so that he could hire them instead of stale ass losers who dont know the slightest thing about culture like Ben Priest & Milo Pedofilist to build his company for him. Anyone who has ever been in contact with me for as little as 5 minutes knows the last thing id ever need to steal, is an idea. I’d actually pay to have less as the amount of ideas i have overwhelm me daily.”

She also shared tweets in which she criticized the controversial Yiannopoulos (who has been accused of being, at best, a right-wing troll, and at worst, a literal Nazi) for some unseemly comments he made about Ye’s superfans, providing screenshots for evidence. You can view them here.

She also dared Yeezy to sue her, writing, “F*ck an NDA,” while defending herself from the commonly lobbed “culture vulture” accusations she’s been fielding since at least 2017. After logging off for the night, she apparently received correspondence from Yiannopolous, which she naturally screen shot and posted on Twitter for the world to see. “We are willing to meet and reconsider next steps and your future with YZY as a contractor,” he wrote. Her reply: “As soon as Yeezy is free of pedophilic, sexist, homophobic, racists, I will be more than happy to speak to Ye directly about being a part of the team. Obviously, this means you’d need to quit or be fired.”

Sheesh. When YesJulz gets one up on you, you might be cooked. Don’t clap too hard for her though. As she pointed out in her tweetstorm last night, she’s worked for Kanye since 2018 — meaning after the Trump stuff, through the antisemitism kerfuffle, while he bullied and harassed his ex-wife and her family, and through two separate stints of Yiannopoulos as “chief of staff” of Yeezy (whatever the hell that’s supposed to be). Her high horse has no shoes and it damn sure can’t run. Again, none of these people is the “good guy” here, and the best “next steps” would be for them all to quietly retire from public life and go be Walmart greeters or something.

Why Was YesJulz Fired And ‘Fined’ $7.7 Million By Kanye West’s Yeezy?

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Late yesterday afternoon, Kanye West publicly cut ties with party promoter and influencer Julieanna Marie Goddard, better known as YesJulz, saying she owes over $7 million to the Yeezy group for violating a non-disclosure agreement. On his Instagram Story, Kanye reportedly wrote, “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the roll out of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.”

Several Yeezy fan accounts also posted screenshots of an email purported to be from Yeezy “chief of staff” Milo Yiannopolous to Goddard. “Dear Ms. Goddard, enclosed please find a letter and statement of account from your time with Yeezy,” it reads. “Fines incurred to date as a result of your NDA violations come to $7.7m. While you were a contractor, I suspended enforcement of this debt. It now falls due. Hassan from the compliance team will reach out with information about payment. Please not that any further violations will accrue more fine. Because you are being terminated for cause but also because you forgot to sign your contract your termination is effective immediately.”

Uproxx generally doesn’t engage in schadenfreude as a rule, and we won’t do so now. But this is so messy. None of this is how a professional organization should behave and even writing this give me, as the kids would say, “the ick.” One of my very first pieces for this site was a critique of Julz for her weird cultural voyeurism and not only was she never held to account for it, the grasping, clout chasing, social climbing she did paid off in a job working for one of the biggest artists in hip-hop, who should have known better, but has been printing t-shirts that read “White Lives Matter” and putting white supremacists in charge of his hiring.

Oh, did I forget to mention Yiannopolous is a virulent, right-wing troll who has been ripped by multiple outlets for pushing hate speech? Yeah. Kanye hired him last year to replace another racist outrage peddler, Nick Fuentes, as his “campaign manager” — after previously firing him in 2022. You gotta give the sourpuss credit, though; usually, when white folks do the “my best friend is Black” thing, their Black best friend isn’t the guy who made “Jesus Walks.”

There is no real “win” here for anyone. It’s sad that Kanye has become this, it’s sad that people are still dealing with Kanye after everything he’s done to destroy his reputation, it’s sad people in hip-hop are still working with YesJulz in 2024, it’s sad that nobody at Yeezy has any concept of professionalism (and that they think this supposed “NDA” is remotely enforceable), and it’s sad that we haven’t agreed as a society to completely ostracize creeps like Yiannopoulos and Fuentes because they only pick on people who’ve historically been oppressed all along. I’m hitting “publish” and taking a very long, very hot shower. Yuck.

Report: Touring Giants Live Nation and AEG Decline Kanye West for a Tour

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Kanye West George Floyd

Kanye West hoped to take his Vultures album with Ty Dolla $ign on the road. Unfortunately for him, Live Nation and AEG won’t assist.

According to Hits Daily Double, insiders state neither touring company will move forward with requests on a Ye tour that is being pitched by his agent Cara Lewis. The decision comes despite Ye moving over 10,000 tickets for his events, like the one in Chicago.

It is noted that Chicago companies Jam Productions and SPKRBX collaborated on the United Center booking days before the release.

Ye and Ty Dolla $ign are being sued by the Donna Summer estate for using the icon’s “I Feel Love” in the creation of “Good (Don’t Die).”

The suit is led by Summer’s husband, Bruce Sandano, stating the interpolation was not approved due to Ye’s “controversial history.”

Ye submitted a request for clearance, but it was denied on Feb. 3, 2024, in both written and phone communications. The song was submitted for clearance at Universal Music Enterprises as an alternative but was once again denied.

The estate is now seeking damages of $150,000 for each infringement.

Earlier this week, after Adidas announced a new stock drop of Yeezy sneakers at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

The post Report: Touring Giants Live Nation and AEG Decline Kanye West for a Tour first appeared on The Source.

The post Report: Touring Giants Live Nation and AEG Decline Kanye West for a Tour appeared first on The Source.

WATCH: Kanye West’s Paris Fans Chant ‘F*** Adidas’

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Kanye West George Floyd

Kanye West and Bianca Censori are currently in France for Paris Fashion Week. While leaving The Ritz on Wednesday, the adoring crowd outside supported Ye, chanting “F*ck Adidas.”

During the moment, Ye riled up the crowd to be louder and even signed an autograph.

You can see the moment below.

Kanye West is not here for the sale of the new Yeezys. After the brand announced a new stock drop at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message, stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

According to Complex, Adidas announced the remaining release of its Yeezy stock on Feb. 29. The “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 will be available for $230 by using the Confirmed app, Adidas app, or Adidas.com.

Adidas also teased additional sneakers, showing an image with silhouettes of the Yeezy Foam Runner, the Yeezy 500, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, and the Yeezy Slides.

Meanwhile, Kanye West delivered a message to fans to not buy them. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys [.] I never made these color ways [.] I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me.”

You can see his full statement below.

In Sept. 2023, Ye received words of support from Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. In an interview, Gulden stated he doesn’t believe Kanye West is a bad person.

“And then as creative people he did some statements which wasn’t that good,” Gulden said. “And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person it just came across that way.

“That meant we lost that business. One of the most successful collabs in history — very said. But again, when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game.”

Adidas reports a revenue of $437 million in the first release of leftover Yeezy sneakers from their nixed deal with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The first run of shoes hit online in June, selling out. The second run began to sell on Wednesday.

The sale of the sneakers was the efforts to empty their inventory responsibly. After the first launch, CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,”

Adidas has also announced the donation of over 10 million euros to groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

According to Billboard, 20% to 25% of the stock was unloaded in the first sale.

The post WATCH: Kanye West’s Paris Fans Chant ‘F*** Adidas’ first appeared on The Source.

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Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement

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Kanye West George Floyd

Another day, another lawsuit for Kanye West. Ye and his Vultures partner, Ty Dolla $ign, are being sued by the Donna Summer estate for using the icon’s “I Feel Love” in the creation of “Good (Don’t Die).”

The suit is led by Summer’s husband, Bruce Sandano, stating the interpolation was not approved due to Ye’s “controversial history.”

Ye submitted a request for clearance, but it was denied on Feb. 3, 2024, in both written and phone communications. The song was submitted for clearance at Universal Music Enterprises as an alternative but was once again denied.

The estate is now seeking damages of $150,000 for each infringement.

Earlier this week, after Adidas announced a new stock drop of Yeezy sneakers at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

The post Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement first appeared on The Source.

The post Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement appeared first on The Source.

Kanye West Says Adidas is Suing Him for $250M While Dropping Fake Shoes in His Name

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Kanye West George Floyd

Kanye West is not here for the sale of the new Yeezys. After the brand announced a new stock drop at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message, stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

According to Complex, Adidas announced the remaining release of its Yeezy stock on Feb. 29. The “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 will be available for $230 by using the Confirmed app, Adidas app, or Adidas.com.

Adidas also teased additional sneakers, showing an image with silhouettes of the Yeezy Foam Runner, the Yeezy 500, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, and the Yeezy Slides.

Meanwhile, Kanye West delivered a message to fans to not buy them. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys [.] I never made these color ways [.] I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me.”

You can see his full statement below.

In Sept. 2023, Ye received words of support from Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. In an interview, Gulden stated he doesn’t believe Kanye West is a bad person.

“And then as creative people he did some statements which wasn’t that good,” Gulden said. “And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person it just came across that way.

“That meant we lost that business. One of the most successful collabs in history — very said. But again, when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game.”

Adidas reports a revenue of $437 million in the first release of leftover Yeezy sneakers from their nixed deal with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The first run of shoes hit online in June, selling out. The second run began to sell on Wednesday.

The sale of the sneakers was the efforts to empty their inventory responsibly. After the first launch, CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,”

Adidas has also announced the donation of over 10 million euros to groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

According to Billboard, 20% to 25% of the stock was unloaded in the first sale.

The post Kanye West Says Adidas is Suing Him for $250M While Dropping Fake Shoes in His Name first appeared on The Source.

The post Kanye West Says Adidas is Suing Him for $250M While Dropping Fake Shoes in His Name appeared first on The Source.

Adidas Announces New Yeezy Stock, Kanye West Calls Them ‘Fake’

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kanye west adidas

More Yeezy sneakers are on the way from Adidas. According to Complex, Adidas announced the remaining release of its Yeezy stock on Feb. 29.

Sneaker collectors can get the “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 on the day above for $230 by using the Confirmed app, Adidas app, or Adidas.com.

Adidas also teased additional sneakers, showing an image with silhouettes of the Yeezy Foam Runner, the Yeezy 500, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, and the Yeezy Slides.

Meanwhile, Kanye West delivered a message to fans to not buy them. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys [.] I never made these color ways [.] I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me.”

You can see his full statement below.

In Sept. 2023, Ye received words of support from Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. In an interview, Gulden stated he doesn’t believe Kanye West is a bad person.

“And then as creative people he did some statements which wasn’t that good,” Gulden said. “And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person it just came across that way.

“That meant we lost that business. One of the most successful collabs in history — very said. But again, when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game.”

Adidas reports a revenue of $437 million in the first release of leftover Yeezy sneakers from their nixed deal with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The first run of shoes hit online in June, selling out. The second run began to sell on Wednesday.

The sale of the sneakers was the efforts to empty their inventory responsibly. After the first launch, CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,”

Adidas has also announced the donation of over 10 million euros to groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

According to Billboard, 20% to 25% of the stock was unloaded in the first sale.

The post Adidas Announces New Yeezy Stock, Kanye West Calls Them ‘Fake’ first appeared on The Source.

The post Adidas Announces New Yeezy Stock, Kanye West Calls Them ‘Fake’ appeared first on The Source.

Is Adidas Still Selling Kanye West’s Yeezy Sneakers?

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Kanye West Adidas Yeezy 2016
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Kanye West had a good run with his Adidas partnership, but that ended up crumbling thanks to West’s antisemitic comments and Adidas not being interested in having their brand attached to that sort of thing. But, Adidas x Yeezy isn’t quite finished yet.

Is Adidas Still Selling Kanye West’s Yeezy Sneakers?

They sure are.

Last May, it was revealed that Adidas had decided to sell off their remaining Yeezy stock after terminating their partnership with West. Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said at the time, “What we are trying to do now over time is sell parts of this inventory and donate money to the organizations that are helping us and that were also hurt by Kanye’s statements.”

That decision ended up paying off financially: That August, it was reported the company had brought in nearly half a billion dollars from the Yeezy inventory.

Then, today (February 26), the company announced additional releases of existing Yeezy products. West didn’t take this news well, writing on Instagram, “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys. I never made these colorways. I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me. All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing. As far as the system goes What yall gone do now? Take my album down again? Freeze my accounts again? Threaten people to not work with me again? All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.”

Did Kanye West Make The New Adidas YZY 350s?

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Kanye West January 2024
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In early 2023, after discontinuing its partnership with Kanye West and his Yeezy brand, Adidas announced that it had reached an agreement to continue selling YZY-branded shoes without West’s involvement. The deal was intended to help Adidas liquidate nearly $1 billion in unsold merchandise as an alternative to destroying it. In August, it was reported that the first batch of YZYs sold turned around nearly $500 million in sales for a quarter of the warehoused goods, donating a portion of the profit to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.

With Adidas announcing its next run of releases, though, it looks like Mr. West is very upset about his lack of involvement. Commenting on an Instagram fan page’s post about the announcement, Kanye absolutely unloaded on Adidas’ leadership, complaining about his public treatment over the last year and a half (which was entirely self-induced, it must be noted).

kanye adidas angry
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“Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys,” he wrote. “I never made these colorways. I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me. All these celebrities and the public will stand against a T-shirt or the color of my hat but when yall see me have my children hidden from me or see an actual Fortune 500 company rape one of your heroes in real life don’t nobody say nothing or do nothing. As far as the system goes What yall gone do now? Take my album down again? Freeze my accounts again? Threaten people to not work with me again? All the new non approved 350’s are cooorny.”

According to sources with knowledge of the deal, though, West rarely attended meetings to give approvals, so… again… maybe don’t throw rocks and complain about all the glass. The lawsuit he refers to here was over $100 million the company delivered to him for marketing purposes which he secreted away into other accounts for other Yeezy projects and has yet to return. Adidas, meanwhile, is being sued by its own shareholders over his actions.