Kanye West settles legal battle
Kanye West has reached a deal to end the legal battle over his 2016 album Life of Pablo after a fan accused him of fraud.
The 41-year-old rapper was sued by Justin Baker-Rhett in 2016 after he tweeted that Life of Pablo would not be available anywhere other than on Jay-Z’s streaming service, Tidal, before later going back on his word and releasing the record on other platforms, including Apple and Spotify.
But on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, the case was dismissed after Baker-Rhett filed court documents informing the court that he and West, “hereby stipulate and agree to the dismissal of Plaintiff’s individual claims with prejudice and the putative class’ claims without prejudice, with each party to bear its own attorney fees and costs.”
According to The Blast, it’s unknown whether or not West and Baker-Rhett exchanged any money as a way of settling the dispute.
Baker-Rhett’s lawsuit was originally filed in 2016 when he took action against both West and Tidal, after taking issue with a tweet the “Heartless” rapper posted which read: “My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale … You can only get it on Tidal.”
The court documents at the time alleged that many West fans had paid for a $9.99 monthly subscription for Tidal to hear the album, believing it would be exclusive to the streaming service, only for West to then release the album on other platforms.
He claimed at the time that the situation was a “deceptive marketing ploy” that “fraudulently [induced] millions of American consumers into paying for Tidal’s rescue,” as he alleged the company was on the verge of financial collapse before the release of Life of Pablo.
And while West may have settled this lawsuit, he’s still facing further legal drama when it comes to Tidal, as Norwegian officials are investigating the company after allegations of inflation of the listening numbers on albums by artists including Kanye and Beyoncé.
