Phillip Plein was about to have one of the most lit runway shows at Fashion Week after the company thought they had Kanye West on board to perform an intimate set. Unfortunately, it's been revealed to be a scam that was allegedly pulled by Malik Yusef who used Donda to sign off on the contract.
The Blast obtained documents that revealed Phillip Plein thought they booked Kanye West to perform at their fashion show. The deal was done between Plein, Kanye and Malik Yusef, one of Kanye's closest collaborators. The contract stated that Plein would donate $500K to Donda Social Program Foundation and six kids from the program would make an appearance at the event draped up in a Philip Plein "total look." They were given a $170K travel budget to accommodate Ye, Yusef, and the kids.
Three wires were sent on Jan. 31, according to sources. One was sent for $600K and another for $150K to Donda S. House Inc. An additional $150K was sent to Burundi Partlow Consulting who allegedly connected Plein's reps with Yusef for the deal. Kanye apparently had no idea about this deal nor did he receive any money for the alleged performance.
The contract has both Yusef and West's signature along with a stamp of a signature above Kanye's signature. Yusef stated that he was unaware of any issues regarding the contract. “Kanye and me have a foundation together that we started," he said. However, sources said that if there is an organization, Kanye isn't actively involved in it, therefore, the company wouldn't have the authorization to sign off on the contract on his behalf.
“We don’t want the work we are doing to be sullied by this situation. It is unfortunate," Rhymefest, who runs Donda House, said.
“We were beyond excited to work with [Kanye West] 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.” A rep for Plein said.
