Kayne West's former business manager has claimed in court that he's been unable to serve the rapper with court documents in a $4.5 million lawsuit, sparking rumors that he has gone 'missing'.
Thomas St. John, who is suing West in Los Angeles over alleged unpaid fees, told the court that he's been unable to find a proper address to deliver the complaint, according to a court filing reported by The Sun.
In the December 19 filing seeking a time extension to serve the papers, St. John said that West did not appear to have an attorney to accept them on his behalf, and noted that attempts to mail the documents to three personal addresses had failed.
Although West was spotted in public just days before St. John filed his court complaint, it nevertheless sparked wild rumors that the erratic star was 'missing'.
The claim went viral on social media, apparently based on a tweet from the hip-hop commentary account Daily Loud, which read: 'Kanye West has reportedly been missing and unable to find for weeks according to his ex-business manager.'
St. John in his court filing sought an extension until the end of March to serve the papers in his lawsuit, which was originally filed in November.
Plaintiffs in civil suits have to show the court that they have properly notified the parties they are suing in order for the case to proceed, and at times defendants have intentionally evaded process servers to stymie lawsuits.
St. John's court filing said that he had attempted to serve West by mail at 'three separate addresses' in California, his homes in in Hidden Hills, Malibu and Calabasas.
The court filing also noted that West does not appear to have an attorney who could accept the documents on his behalf.
'We were advised about a new law firm for defendants, but not a specific point of contact. We subsequently learned of information in the news that the law firm identified as new counsel was not affiliated with the defendants,' the filing stated, according to The Sun.
'Accordingly, we have not been able to serve defendants through their counsel. As a general matter, we have had difficulty confirming the best current address of Kanye West,' it added, noting that the address for the rapper's company Yeezy, LLC in state records also 'did not appear to be correct.'
'For Mr. West, despite our diligent efforts, we were unable to ascertain his current residential address, and therefore, have not yet made attempts to serve him personally. Instead, we have attempted to service him by mail at multiple possible addresses,' the filing added.
In his lawsuit, St. John, head of the TSJ international accounting firm, accused West of refusing to pay 18 months worth of guaranteed fees after St. John was brought on as his business manager in March.
St. John claimed that when he confronted West about the $300,000-per-month retainer fee, the rapper grew 'heated and aggressive' and began cursing at him.
The lawsuit states: 'He screamed at Mr. St. John and made clear he no longer wanted to work with (St. John.)
'When confronted by the 18-month commitment that had just been made, Mr. West stated words to the effect of 'The 18-month term was bulls***' and 'You’re insane for even thinking I would stick to it.''
The new lawsuit also spells trouble for West as his lawyers at the Greenberg Traurig, one of the largest legal firms in the world, said they would be cutting ties with him.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, St. John secured an 18-month contract with West as 'assurance that Defendants would not simply walk away from the business relationship.'
But the accountant claims West did just that after only paying fees for the first three months of service.
The lawsuit states that West has an unpaid balance of $900,000 as of
October, and will owe an additional $3.6 million by November 2023, when
the 18-month contract was set to expire.
