Update July 20: Did the IG post work? GQ announced a Yeezy Gap pop-up inside of Gap’s flagship store in Times Square. The store “has been reengineered and distilled to its most essential form in Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga’s vision of utilitarian design,†according to a press release. Yeezy Gap is a collab between Ye and Gap (duh), but also Balenciaga’s Demna, who recently showed his second couture show for the brand. The parties involved seem to be trying put a little piece of Dimes Square into Times Square. The Yeezy Gap store announcement was done on Yeezy’s brand new Instagram profile, which contains no poorly cropped photos of Gap Interim CEO Bob Martin. Alas. Meanwhile, a business lawyer told Vice that Phantom Lab’s lawsuit is “very strong,†but will probably take forever. Many of the contracts Phantom Labs is accusing Ye of breaching were established orally in meetings or over text/email.
Original story follows.
There’s already a lot on Ye’s plate and he was just served another spoonful of, well, a lawsuit. Ye, f.k.a. Kanye West, is being sued by Phantom Labs, a production company, for over $7 million, according to TMZ. The company worked with him on events like several Sunday Service concerts, a Donda 2 listening event, the “Free Larry Hoover†benefit concert with Drake, and his canceled Coachella headlining performance. Phantom claimed that Ye was consistent on payments until, eventually, they were owed $6 million by the rapper. Ye allegedly told them he would pay his debt with his Coachella performance. But once he canceled the show, Phantom decided to sue him for breach of contract; they allegedly lost another $1.1 million due to cancellation fees from the Coachella set.
While Ye’s legal team is dealing with the lawsuit, the Donda rapper is focusing on other equally important matters: contacting Gap’s CEO, Bob Martin. Yes, the same Gap that’s in every outlet mall ever. Ye posted a Google image result of Martin on his Instagram, recalling a phone conversation with him and Gap’s team. “On my moms birthday I was able for the first time to sit in on a Gap call with Bob Martin, Bob Fisher and other leads of the company. Bob Martin was one of the most inspiring people I’ve heard speak in business,†wrote Ye. He then spoke about the Yeezy/Gap collab’s success, which first began in 2020, allegedly selling “4 million dollars worth†of the black hoodie. “I came to Gap to bring good quality products to the people at all times,†he continued. “Bob I need to meet with you as soon as possible.†Despite the apparent success, Gap fired its former CEO Sonia Syngal after failing to reinvent the brand, with the Los Angeles Times noting the Yeezy collab has “failed to generate meaningful result†for Gap. While the relationship between Gap and Ye is unclear, Ye made it clear that he’s not ready to give up the fashion biz.