Kanye West Sues Walmart Over Knockoff Yeezys, Claims He Could Be Losing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars – Report
UPDATE (June 28):
Walmart has reportedly removed their Yeezy Foam Runner replica shoes from their website. According to a report from TMZ on Monday (June 28), the retail giant removed the items, which Kanye West accused them of ripping off and selling, on Friday (June 25). However, although the shoe is no longer on Walmart's site, the outlet notes that they are available on hundreds of other websites.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Kanye West is at odds with Walmart again.
According to a new report from TMZ on Thursday (June 24), Kanye is suing the retail giant for selling replicas of his Yeezy Foam Runner shoe on Walmart's website for less than half of the actual retail price. On Walmart.com, the look-alike footwear is listed as the "Daeful Mens Womens Kids Summer Beach Shoes Foam Runner Anti Slipper Sandals Casual Beige." There are seven different colors ranging from beige to black to yellow and also white. As for the price, the shoes are between $23.99 and $24.49 based on the color.
’Ye and his Yeezy company are accusing Walmart of not only selling ripoffs of his shoe, but the discount department conglomerate is also being held accountable for confusing customers regarding the authenticity of their "Summer Beach Shoes Foam Runner" opposed to Kanye's Yeezy Foam Runner.
The G.O.O.D. Music founder also claims that because of Walmart's sales on his knockoff shoe, he could be losing millions of dollars.
Walmart has issued a statement regarding the lawsuit to XXL. According to the retail giant, the footwear is sold by a third-party not Walmart. “The product referenced in the complaint is not sold by Walmart, but rather by third party Marketplace sellers," the statement reads. "We take allegations like this seriously and are reviewing the claim. We will respond in court as appropriate after we have been served with the complaint.”
Kanye West's Yeezy Foam Runners retail between $75 to $80. Meanwhile, Walmart's are less than $25. Kanye claims that the company made an "unauthorized exact copy" and has been selling it for a significantly lower price so they can profit off of the rapper and his popularized shoe.
Kanye additionally claims that he sent a legal warning to Walmart to stop them from selling their version of his shoe, but they have yet to do so.
On another note, this isn't the first time Walmart has been accused of copying something belonging to a rapper. Last June, the company was called out for selling fake versions of Lil Baby's 4PF chain, which is the abbreviation for his record label 4 Pockets Full Inc.
Interestingly, this is ’Ye's second dispute with Walmart in recent months. Back in April, the billion-dollar corporation filed a complaint with the US Patent and Trademark Office, accusing Kanye of creating his Yeezy logo to be too similar to theirs.
XXL has also reached out to a rep for Kanye West for comment on this matter.