Kanye West hires a new lawyer as his battle with the gap gets worse

As Kanye ‘Ye’ West and The Gap continue their $2 million feud, he made a change in the legal department.

According to reports, the rapper reorganized his legal team, seeking advice from a different lawyer to assist him in his case against The Gap, which may potentially require him to appear in person for a deposition.

After Kanye ‘Ye’ West accused the retail corporation of not adhering to an agreement to lease a commercial building in Los Angeles as a store for Ye’s apparel line with The Gap, the two parties parted ways.

The newly hired lawyer for Kanye “Ye” West has gotten in touch with the Gap legal team.

For his ongoing legal battle with his former partners at The Gap, who signed a design contract with him, the producer engaged a new lawyer. Ye changed sides when the business insisted that he eventually show up for a deposition in their $2 million lawsuit.

According to court records, a legal representative posing as non-litigation counsel for Ye and his business, Yeezy, contacted the lawyers for the retail company.

Manoj Shah, the recently hired lawyer, is employed by Brand Counsel PC. Although Shah has not yet appeared in court, the Gap attorneys have been referring to him as Ye’s attorney in this matter.

Ye will not be represented in the current legal battle by Shah’s law practice, according to In Touch, which verified that it does not handle litigation. On June 21, months ago, Ye fired previous representative Brian Brumfield. Additionally, according to Brumfield, Ye declined to “speak to counsel, and Ye refuses to pay counsel as well.”

Two months ago, the designer received a notice of deposition from the Gap Company.

The “Vultures” rapper was served by The Gap on October 15, but his attorney, Shah, told the court days in advance that his client would not accept the invitation.

Shah further asserted that on the day of the deposition, no documents would be produced. Ye never formally objected to the deposition in court, the Gap attorneys claimed.

Ye was accused by The Gap of prolonging the matter. “Gap has been actively seeking discovery and a deposition of Ye,” the company’s attorneys stated. In December 2023, Gap provided Ye with its initial wave of finding.

They pointed out that Ye changed his counsel two days after serving egregiously inadequate discovery responses. The Gap also included:

“Efforts to meet and discuss regarding the outstanding documents began as soon as Yeezy’s new attorney was operational. Citing difficulties finding and acquiring documents from his client, Yeezy’s attorney insisted that a search for documentation was imminent over the course of two months, from March to May 2024.

They kept going, “During this time period, Gap also attempted to schedule a deposition of Ye. Gap noticed depositions of the Yeezy Parties for September 19, 2024, October 11, 2024, and October 15, 2024.”

The business clarified that Yeezy continued switching its lawyers in spite of its efforts to come to an agreement on a good time for the deposition.

The Gap stated that “although the Yeezy Parties’ CFO informed Gap that new counsel, Manoj Shah of Brand Counsel PC, was to be assigned to the case, Mr. Shah has yet to make a formal appearance.” The motion further said:

“Given the aforementioned, it appears that the Yeezy Parties have been firing attorneys to postpone and evade their discovery duties in this case, and that this has at least been the outcome. To put an end to the gamesmanship, Ye’s deposition and production should be mandated.

Ye was blamed by the retail giant for breaking the terms of the lease at the Art City Center.

In order to ask the rapper some important questions regarding the issue, which started when a firm sued The Gap in 2022, the deposition was required.

The Gap leased a commercial space in Downtown Los Angeles for Ye’s clothing line partnership with the retailer, according to Art City Center’s petition.

Art City asserted that The Gap had already altered the property in violation of the terms of the leasing agreement after Ye and The Gap’s contract fell through because of noncompliance with their agreement.

The Gap was then ordered to pay $800,000 in damages by Art City. Ye and Yeezy were countersued by The Gap for $2 million in damages, arguing that the artist and his crew were in charge of the rented space.

Without Art City’s consent, The Gap demanded that the rapper and his crew alter and redecorate the property.

“The performance of the work not only breached the Strategic Agreement, but the manner of preparing for and performing the work caused the need for the repairs and restoration alleged in the complaint,” the retailer noted.

They further alleged that “by making and not repairing or restoring the foregoing alterations of the Premises that [Ye] made without Gap’s participation or approval, [Ye] breached the Strategic Agreement and directly and proximately caused Gap to incur expenses to repair and restore the premises.”

Recently, the Chicago native settled a battery lawsuit against an inquisitive fan.

The Blast revealed in September that the rapper has concluded a 2022 case, which had started in February when Justin Poplawski sued Ye in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The victim sought undisclosed compensation for his alleged mental distress and medical costs after the alleged attack.

Poplawski, who had charged Ye with assault and battery, told the court seven months later that the deal applied to the whole case. According to the complaint, Poplawski’s attorney stated that the rapper had clearly intended to hurt his client by physically assaulting him.

According to the attorney, Poplawski was “severely” injured and helpless during the attack as a result of Ye’s repression of him. Poplawski suffered emotional anguish in addition to physical damage, according to his legal team.

They spoke of “past and future non-economic damages,” such as “physical pain, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, physical impairment, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation, and severe emotional distress.”

The legal team for Kanye “Ye” West asserted that the alleged attack was a self-defense maneuver.

According to reports, the altercation took place outside Soho Warehouse on January 13, 2022. Ye allegedly threatened to “make a f—ing example out of” the fan and started ranting at Poplawski.

Poplawski clarified that he had easily gotten West’s autograph before and that Ye would not say sorry for his outburst when the altercation turned heated.

Ye strongly denied any misconduct or physical attack of Poplawski in spite of the accusations. The 47-year-old was merely defending himself, according to his legal team. According to his lawyer, “Ye was justified in doing any and/or all of the acts alleged in the Complaint.”

At all times material herein, they stressed, Ye acted “reasonably and in good faith, based on all relevant facts and circumstances known to Ye at the time Ye so acted.”

Will Ye and Manoj Shah’s new legal partnership endure, or will it eventually fade into the background like the others?