Kanye West Accused of Plundering Trade-Secret Tech To Fund His Internet Church
Kanye West is being sued for pulling the tried-and-true Silicon Valley tactic of allegedly stealing trade tech secrets. Gizmodo reports: First spotted by TMZ, the suit is being spearheaded by small, Pennsylvania-based ecommerce company MyChannel (MYC, for short). MYC allege that after pouring millions of dollars and half a year's worth of work into mocking up a spiffy new site for Ye's online clothing store, the rapper stepped out on their contract. According to the lawsuit, West then took the company's ideas for himself, and from the sound of things, just... ghosted them -- breaking multiple promises, violating NDAs, and acting like a huge tool in the process. According to the [30+ pages of MYC's complaint], West initially contracted MYC back in the spring of 2018 with the promise that if the company created a juiced-up video platform for his e-commerce site, he'd not only, y'know, pay the company for its services, but would invest a hefty $10 million into the business. MYC also had West sign an NDA just to make sure that the company's proprietary video tech wouldn't be "ripped off" without any payment. Probably assuming that Kanye would keep his word, MYC says its team spent the next six months clocking 80 hour workweeks on the project, spending tens of thousands on the proposed video software in the process. Not only that, but because Kanye "demanded" that the team move its HQ from its home in Philly over to California, and later Chicago, living expenses sunk them even deeper into the hole. All told, MYC claims to have spent spent $7 million of its own funds before confronting West and telling him to make good on his end of the deal. Instead of fulfilling his side of the bargain, the suit describes how West -- who it's worth pointing out is a literal billionaire -- came up with some "untrue perceived slight," and cut all ties with MYC's team, leaving them stranded and in a mountain of debt. Meanwhile, West spent the months immediately afterward using what MYC describes as a near-carbon copy of their platform as part of the promotion for "Sunday Service," West's so-called pop-up church experience.
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