This has been a pretty turbulent year for Kanye West.
The former billionaire rapper, now known as Y,e, struggled to navigate his divorce from ex-wife Kim Kardashian and has steadily diminished his public image with frequent outbursts about seemingly random subjects.
Things took a nosedive when his speech became hateful and targeted the Jewish population, causing those around him to question their ties to him.
Often these bridges were burned, and the major bridges that were burned came from Ye’s legal counsel, who helped him with all of his legal problems.
Because of this, each of Kanye West’s 7 attorneys dropped him as a client this year.
1. Nina D. Boyajian of Greenberg Sad.
Earlier this year, a production company called Phantom Labs sued Ye in a $7 million lawsuit.
The company has worked with the rapper on several major production projects such as his Sunday Service and the Free Larry Hoover Event with Drake in Los Angeles.
In the lawsuit, as reported by RadarOnline, they alleged that Ye left several outstanding bills totaling $6 million.
Ye hired Nina D. Boyajian of the Greenberg Traurig law firm to help fight his case, but she recently told the court she was withdrawing her involvement.
RadarOnline reported that she told the court that Ye “made publicly inappropriate anti-Semitic statements, leading to his condemnation by and distancing from various organizations and individuals who had previously worked with or represented him.”
She said that due to team members leaving him, she “is unable to meaningfully communicate with him [West] to represent her in this matter.”
2. Nicholas Gravante by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.
Nicholas Gravante, under the law firm Cadwalader, represented Ye in September 2022 in his efforts to get out of his contract with Gap.
As Bloomberg Law reports, the group has officially cut all ties with the rapper.
“We do not currently offer representation and have no intention of providing representation in the future,” a Cadwalader spokesman said via email.
While they weren’t explicit about the reasons for Ye’s secession, it’s very likely that it stems from his increasingly anti-Semitic hate speech, as they added that they condemned “bigotry and hate speech of any kind.”
3.Michael Fazio with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
Michael Fazio was part of the coalition of lawyers who assisted Ye in the deal with Gap.
In a statement similar to Cadwalader’s, they announced they would no longer be representing him.
“QE has withdrawn from representing Mr West and will no longer represent him,” said William Burck, the firm’s co-chief executive officer, in a statement reported by Reuters.
4. Johnny Depp’s former attorney Camille Vasquez of the law firm Brown Rudnick.
In a take that came as a surprise to many, TMZ reported that Ye signed Vasquez, who went viral after defending Johnny Depp in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, to help him handle a variety of different legal fronts.
The team was reportedly not hired to help Ye with his divorce, but instead worked in a similar fashion to the aforementioned attorneys to help with business deals and contracts.
After Vasquez continued to spread his hate speech, he informed the firm that it would no longer represent the rapper.
According to TMZ, the company tried to continue working with Ye as long as he retracted his earlier anti-Semitic and hateful statements, but in his refusal decided to fire the company.
5. Bernard Clair and Bob Cohen of New York Cohen Clair Lans Griefer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP.
The most recent in his cycle of divorce attorneys, couple Bernard Clair and Bob Cohen, represented him in the Kardashian case.
Destined to end regardless of Yes’s hate speech, Clair and Cohen decided to say their early goodbyes to confirm they would no longer be representing the rapper.
A source told Page Six News that “the company no longer represents Kanye West.”
6. Samantha Spector from Spector Law.
Dubbed the “Super Lawyer” of Southern California, Samantha Spector founded her own law practice specializing in family law and has worked on several high-profile celebrity cases, including Amber Heard and Nicole Young.
Spector was hired as West’s fifth divorce lawyer, but claimed after a few months that “her relationship with Kanye was irretrievably broken,” as reported by TMZ.
She had asked the judge to relieve her as Yes’s attorney and was promptly allowed to resign.
Spector never gave a reason why their relationship had deteriorated.
7. Chris Melcher of Walzer Melcher LLP.
Chris Melcher was Ye’s divorce attorney before Spector and was the divorce attorney who rang in the new year with Ye.
Ye, another popular celebrity lawyer, hoped Melcher could get him what he wanted out of his divorce with Kardashian, which ended in another failed relationship.
TMZ reported that “Ye and Melcher’s relationship had become extremely difficult with little communication.”
They went on to claim that he often said he just wanted to work things out with Kardashian and then move on to wanting to fight.
Ye was dropped by seven different attorneys in the last year, but 2022 isn’t over yet.
Although it might be difficult for Ye to find another lawyer or law firm willing to work for him, anything could happen.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Associate Editor focused on entertainment and news, social justice and politics. Since graduating from Rutgers University, he spends most of his free time gaming or quadball. Keep up to date with his tirades on current events on his twitter.
