Kanye West Is Suing Walmart Over Yeezys

Kanye West is taking legal action against Walmart for allegedly selling a knockoff version of his Yeezy Foam Runners at a fraction of the price. The rapper and designer and his Yeezy company claim that the retailer copied the design of his popular and distinctive-looking shoes, confusing customers about what they were buying and potentially costing Yeezy hundreds of millions of dollars, according to legal documents obtained by TMZ Thursday.

West debuted the Foam Runner in 2019, making the footwear available to purchase for the public in June 2020, instantly selling out at a cost of about $75 per pair. The Yeezus artist then claimed Walmart made an “unauthorized exact copy” and has been selling it at about $25 a pair in order to profit from the profitability of the shoe with its own version. West’s team claims it sent a warning to Walmart telling them to pull the shoes from the site, but that it has failed to do so.

A spokesperson for Walmart told the outlet in a statement, “The product referenced in the complaint is not sold by Walmart, but rather by third party Marketplace sellers. We take allegations like this seriously and are reviewing the claim. We will respond in court as appropriate after we have been served with the complaint.”

West’s Yeezy brand has proved incredibly lucrative over the years and sparked partnerships with huge brands like Adidas and Gap. In April 2020, Forbes officially estimated West’s net worth was $1.3 billion dollars, despite his own insistence his assets are valued at $3 billion. The publication cited documents listing $35 million in stocks, $17 million in cash and almost $102 million for land and “buildings and improvements” in that estimation, as well as his music, including his G.O.O.D. Music label and publishing rights, which are worth around $90 million.

Yeezy is a big part of West’s brand as well. On June 8, West released a blue dropped sleeve jacket that marked the first drop from his Yeezy Gap line, and the item sold out in just a few hours. The Yeezy partnership with Gap is set for 10 years with the option to renew after five, with Gap is reportedly expecting to garner $1 billion annually due to the new partnership within the first five years, as per The New York Times.