Photo credit: Lan Deng
The failed partnership between clothing brand Gap and disgraced rapper Kanye West continues to simmer — now with a new $2 million lawsuit over a remodeled storefront in downtown Los Angeles.
Following Kanye West’s failed partnership with clothing brand Gap, the company is now suing the rapper in a new $2 million lawsuit.
According to the filing, Gap is seeking damages to cover a lawsuit brought by Art City Center — a company that owns a downtown Los Angeles building that was leased to Gap as a showcase for Kanye’s Yeezy clothing line.
Art City Center says the building underwent numerous unauthorized changes during the Yeezy collaboration in 2021 and 2022. The company is suing Gap for the cost of restoring the premises, which Gap plans to pass on to Kanye.
According to Gap, the contract with the rapper stipulates that the company will not be held liable for any claims of this nature made against the company that any modifications to the building were made at Kanye’s direction without Gap’s consent or knowledge.
“The defendants made numerous changes to the building on the subject site without Gap’s consent, let alone under the terms of the agreement,” Gap’s attorneys wrote in a complaint filed on 2nd of April. “Not only did the execution of the work violate the strategic agreement, but the way the work was prepared and carried out meant that (…) repairs and restorations were required.”
“The Gap Denies Any Liability To (Art City)” writes the company. “However, should Gap have such liability, any damages allegedly suffered by Plaintiff were the result of the acts or omissions of (West).”
The apparel company is seeking more than $2 million, which covers the amount Gap says will be billed to repair the Art City Center site, plus Gap’s legal fees.
Gap is one of many former business partners who parted ways with West and his Yeezy brand over the past year over his erratic behavior and anti-Semitic remarks. Just a year earlier, Gap announced a 10-year deal with West for a line called Yeezy Gap, under which Gap would open five retail locations for the partnership — including the property owned by Art City Center.
But Gap isn’t the only clothing brand facing legal troubles after its failed partnership with the disgraced rapper. Last month, Adidas was faced with a pending class-action lawsuit alleging that the company knew of West’s troubling “personal conduct” years before ending its partnership with West, but failed to warn investors.