Kanye West has taken legal action to recover the $900,000 he claims his former business manager Thomas St. John was paid mistakenly due to a contract signed under duress.
The artist alleges he had been sleep-deprived and stressed from his divorce from Kim Kardashian when signing the Agreement.
Radar obtained court documents detailing the countersuit filed against St. John by West.
In March 2022, St. John was brought on by the Grammy award-winning rapper under a contract worth $300k per month.
However, it wasn't long before the business manager filed suit against Yeezy's creator for breach of contract and fraud. West refused to pay out the rest of what he owed St. John.
According to the lawsuit, "By 2022, Ye's artistic and professional career took a turn for the worse as a result of his various antics and public statements."
"Ye needed guidance from a respected, sophisticated business manager who could right the ship and guide his career going forward."
The former business manager asserted that he and West had worked out an agreement of eighteen months, during which time St. John would receive compensation should his contract be terminated.
Yet, when the time came for West to part ways with St. John, the latter was only given three months' worth of payment - despite their previous arrangement.
At issue was a dispute between the famous rapper and his business manager, wherein it was alleged that he had declared, "you're insane for even thinking I would stick to [an] 18-month term". A legal action followed, asking for $4.5 million in damages.
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Kanye West Files Countersuit
Kanye West has officially responded to the lawsuit and countersued St. John. Refuting any accusations of improper conduct, the "Donda" rapper maintains that the contract in question is not binding because it was obtained through "constructive fraud."
"If the Agreement is enforceable and not voidable, Defendants' performance was excused in whole or in part due to Plaintiff's failure to perform its contractual obligations."
According to a legal filing by the plaintiff, St. John's claims were rejected as his performance was so bad it would be unreasonable and unfair to expect more payments from the defendant.
As a result, this countersuit sought the return of $900k that had previously been paid out. This money had been given on the understanding that services would be provided in total; however, they had not met these expectations.
"And indeed, nobody reviewed the Agreement on Ye's behalf or advised Ye on the Agreement's terms before Ye signed the Agreement, which Mr. St. John knew. In fact, Mr. St. John did not even advise Ye on the terms of the Agreement. Instead, Ye signed the Agreement on the spot."
When the dad-of-four was embroiled in a highly publicized divorce that had attracted intense media coverage and unwanted attention from paparazzi, St. John had not proposed he reach out to his lawyer when presented with an alleged contract.
His attorney commented that at this time, West was "overwhelmed by the sheer number of stressful paparazzi encounters."
The rapper's lawyer also said, "As a result of the stress of the divorce, media coverage, and paparazzi hounding, Ye was chronically sleep-deprived, stressed, anxious, and under duress."
"As a result, Ye did not read the Agreement before signing it. Mr. St. John knew of the taxing circumstances Ye found himself in, knew that Ye was not then in a fit condition to evaluate a contract worth $5.4 million without advice of counsel, and witnessed Ye sign the Agreement without reading it."
"Yet, Mr. St. John foisted the Agreement upon Ye, relying on the fact that he had garnered Ye's trust."
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