Someone described as a G.O.O.D. Music "associate" reportedly committed fraud by way of a forged Kanye West signature, ultimately netting the alleged perpetrator $900,000 for a performance that was never actually going to happen.
The peculiar story was detailed in a report via TMZ very early Friday. According to their sources, someone West knows reached out to German fashion designer Philipp Plein and misrepresented himself as a formal representative for the supremely unfortunate MAGA enabler.
As you may have spotted this week, reports did indeed run in which West was alleged to be performing at Plein's upcoming NYFW show on Feb. 11. Per the TMZ report, that's because Plein believed the unidentified man was an actual West rep, a belief he followed all the way through with a performance agreement and a hefty $900,000 advance. Sources told The Blast the sum was paid in three different transactions on Jan. 31: $600,000 and $150,000 were wired to Donda S. House Inc., and another $150,000 was sent to Burundi Partlow Consulting. The latter firm reportedly put Plein's camp in touch with Chicago musician/poet Malik Yusef, a Ye associate who was once signed to G.O.O.D. Music.
The fradulent contract, which was obtained by The Blast, features Yusef's signature; however, he told the outlet he was "not aware" of any problems related to the bogus deal. He also claimed he and Kanye started a foundation together, but insiders said that if the charity does exist, West is not actively involved in it. The sources also state that the purported foundation is not authorized to ink deals on Kanye's behalf.
"We were beyond excited to work with [Kanye West]," Pleins' team told The Blast, "but unfortunately an individual pretended to be part of his management team and acted without Kanye's knowledge, capitalizing on a former friendship with him. Unfortunately, we too were affected by this misrepresentation."
Kim Kardashian responded to a fan's statement about the then-rumored NYFW performance earlier this week, clarifying that he will not be performing at any NYFW events. The alleged forged signature at the root of the confusion, however, wasn't revealed until Friday.
The man is said to be a "former friend" of West's. Reps for Philipp Plein did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.
West, who was on the boards for Pusha-T's impeccable 2018 album DAYTONA, is notably up for the Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) award at this weekend's Grammy awards. He's also once again been said to have given up that aforementioned MAGA-ing, though it's important to note that we've been burned by similar claims before.
