Kanye West’s Yeezy Brand Ordered to Pay $300,000 to Creative Director in Lawsuit
A judge has ruled that Kanye West’s Yeezy brand must pay $300,000 to Katelyn Mooney, a creative director who sued the company for unpaid compensation. According to the New York Post, Judge Gerald Lebovits issued a default judgment in Mooney’s favor after Yeezy failed to respond to her lawsuit on Monday, May 1.
Mooney claimed that the Yeezy brand owed her approximately $100,000 for her work on a photoshoot for Kanye West’s SHDZ sunglasses line. Despite being contracted for $110,000, she reportedly received only $15,000 after providing the final photos in September.
As a result of Yeezy’s non-payment, Mooney was forced to take out loans and rely on credit cards to cover her expenses. She filed a lawsuit against the brand in December 2022, but Kanye West never assigned a lawyer to respond to the case.
Judge Lebovits awarded Mooney $95,000 in actual damages and ordered Yeezy to pay an additional $205,000 in statutory damages. This lawsuit is one of several filed against Kanye West in recent years, including a case accusing him of sampling Boogie Down Productions without permission and another involving Sunday Service workers alleging mistreatment.
