CEO Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) has moved to terminate his 10-year agreement with Gap. According to CNBC, Ye’s lawyers sent a letter to Gap on Thursday (September 15, 2022) notifying the company that Yeezy LLC is terminating the agreement because the retailer breached its contract by failing to distribute Yeezy products in its stores by the second half of 2021 and creating dedicated Yeezy Gap stores.
“Yeezy notified Gap of its concerns in August and gave the company a contractually-designated 30 days to cure its breaches,” Nicholas Gravante, a lawyer for Ye, told CNBC.
Gravante noted Gap’s noncompliance has been costly and that “Ye will now promptly move forward to make up for lost time by opening Yeezy retail stores.”
According to the letter, Gap may continue to sell existing Gap Yeezy product “before ceasing to use the brand name.” Product made in collaboration with Balenciaga isn’t impacted by termination of the agreement.
Ye and Gap announced their Yeezy Gap brand partnership in 2020 to much fanfare. The stock jumped 34% on the news but now priced at $9.45, not far off from a 52-week low. Over the past month, Ye has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with his agreements with Gap and Adidas on Instagram.
