Kanye’s Yeezy Must Pay $300,000 to Creative Director in Lawsuit Over YZY SHDZ

Yeezy, the fashion brand founded by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has been ordered to pay $300,000 to a creative director in a lawsuit over the YZY SHDZ.

Per court documents, Ye’s company will pay $300,000 to NYC freelance creative Katelyn Mooney after the multi-hyphenate and his legal team failed to respond to the lawsuit in time. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits made the ruling this week.

Mooney filed her lawsuit against Yeezy in December 2022 and said that she wasn’t paid the agreed-upon $110,000 for the photography work she did for Yeezy’s sunglasses line SHDZ. When she delivered the final assets to the company on Sept. 14, she had only been paid $15,000. In text messages with employees at Yeezy, the company agreed to pay her $110,000. She also sent various invoices that were not met. 

In the lawsuit, she argued that she was forced to take out loans and use credit cards to cover her expenses because she was not paid by Yeezy. The company has been found responsible for the claims because Yeezy never assigned a lawyer to the case or even responded. The awarded amount is comprised of $95,000 in damages and $205,000 in statutory damages. 

Earlier this week, Ye’s former Yeezy collaborator Adidas was sued by investors over the failed partnership, which fell apart last year amid Ye’s embrace of anti-Semitic sentiment. Top executives at the company have been accused of being aware of the risks that come with working with Ye, who had expressed problematic beliefs “as early as 2018.”