Kanye West is being sued for $1.5 million for posting paparazzi photos of himself and wife Bianca Censori on social media.
The suit, obtained by Law 360 on Monday (August 12), finds BackGrid USA Inc. and its British affiliate, Backgrid London Ltd., accusing Ye of copyright infringement for sharing ten of their photos on Instagram and his Yeezy website without paying to license them.
The company claims this is costing them “up to hundreds of thousands of dollars” in potential revenue.
“Defendant West’s career relies heavily on the strictures of copyright law as an artist and entrepreneur, and therefore is on notice of the requirements to obtain a license prior to exploiting the works of others,” the suit reads.
They’re looking for Ye to pay $150,000 in damages for each photo as well as cover the BackGrid companies’ attorney fees. They’re also requesting accounting of all the purported profits and benefits that the DONDA rapper may have received from posting the pics.
In other news, Kanye West has reportedly shown support for Diddy and R. Kelly, despite their alleged sex crimes.
Ye held a party celebrating the release of his and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 2 album in Los Angeles on Sunday (August 11) where he was seen commandeering the music via an aux cord.
The Chicago rap legend played an eclectic mix of songs during his impromptu DJ set, ranging from Prince, Eurythmics and The Eagles to classic tracks from JAY-Z and himself.
The most interesting selections, however, were tracks from Diddy and R. Kelly which Kanye played consecutively, according to producer Mike Hector who was in attendance.
“I’m at this party and kanye djing. he played 2 diddy songs and then a r kelly song right after. this n-gga do not give a fuck,” tweeted Hector, who also posted a clip of Kanye DJing on his Instagram Stories.
Kanye recently made reference to both R. Kelly and Diddy on his Vultures 1 hit “Carnival,” which ended up topping the Billboard Hot 100.
He rapped: “Anybody pissed off, gotta make ’em drink the urine/ Now I’m Ye-Kelly, bitch, now, I’m Bill Cosby, bitch/ Now, I’m Puff Daddy rich, that’s #MeToo me rich.”
West previously collaborated with convicted sex offender Kelly in 2012 on the G.O.O.D. Music compilation album Cruel Summer.