Kanye West Sued for $7.1 Million for Canceled Coachella Performance, Other Events

Production and design firm Phantom Labs is suing Kanye West for $7.1 million, alleging that the rapper and his team owe the company payment for the work the firm contributed to his canceled Coachella headlining performance in 2022 and several other large-scale events and projects.

In a lawsuit filed on July 14 in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court, Phantom Labs alleged that West owes them millions in unpaid fees for work around his Coachella set, in addition to the Donda 2 listening event, his Free Larry Hoover concert with Drake, and multiple Sunday Service performances by the artist—centered around the gospel group led by West and conducted by Jason White.

Phantom Labs, represented by attorney Howard King, said that it received an initial payment for early services but is suing West for breach of contract in addition to the $7.1 million in unpaid fees for its work with the artists on several large-scale events from June 2012 through March 2022.

“We are incredibly proud of the work that we did with Ye and are disappointed that such a fruitful relationship has come to this,” said a spokesperson for Phantom Labs in a statement. “A celebrity weaponizing fame and reputation to take advantage of eager collaborators is simply unacceptable.”

West, who along with several of his companies are referred to as “the Yeezy Defendants” in court documents, allegedly hired Phantom Labs in the fall of 2021 to “run a renovation project” at a Los Angeles warehouse he was converting into an office and creative space. In November of 2021, he also allegedly hired the company to produce four Sunday Service events. Phantom Labs said they were not paid for either project.

The company also said it is owed $2.2 million for the production of West’s Donda 2 livestream party in Miami in 2022, along with the $1 million in cancellation fees after West pulled out of his headlining Coachella set in early April.

(Photo by Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)