Kanye West and Yeezy sued by Japanese textile firm Toki Sen-I

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jan 29, 2019

Japanese textile company Toki Sen-I Co. is suing Kanye West and his brand Yeezy Apparel Inc. for alleged breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, claiming that the rapper’s company held out on a payment of over $600,000.

According to the complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, in June 2018 Yeezy contacted Toki Sen-I to discuss prices, volume and delivery time for an order of fleece fabric, at which point the American company agreed to pay $624,051.76 for the Japanese manufacturer’s services.

Toki Sen-I then contacted West’s company at the end of the month to inform them that production of the fleece had started and to request a previously agreed upon partial payment of 50%. According to the filing, Yeezy then successfully renegotiated the payment to 30% but the Japanese manufacturer alleges that it never received the money.

By the time Yeezy told Toki Sen-I that it had no intention of complying with the terms of the contract, the company claims that it was too late to halt production.
 
Toki Sen-I could not then find a buyer for the 53,500 yards of fabric Yeezy had ordered, as it had been made to the company’s “specific requirements”. Furthermore, the Japanese company claimed that it was forced to rent storage space for the fleece at $560 a month as it attempted to negotiate a new deal with Yeezy.
 
Toki Sen-I is therefore demanding the money it is owed plus interest and damages.
 
The company is also suing for punitive damages as it claims that Yeezy “committed fraud on multiple occasions with malice and blatant disregard for the law,” even going so far as to allege that “Yeezy was a mere shell and sham without capital, assets, membership interests, or members other than Kanye,” and that the brand “was so inadequately capitalized that, compared with the business to be done by it and the risk of loss, its capitalization was illusory or trifling.”
 
West is yet to officially comment on the allegations.