Kanye West’s debts continue to stack up. The presidential candidate can’t seem to get his finances in order, and it is only getting worst. It is now being reported that West also owes the I.R.S., amongst several others. Let’s take a look at his current finances and why his debt seems to be so out of control.
Kanye West‘s debts and money issues are not new. The music and fashion mogul has always been known for his outlandish spending habits. Back in 2016, West was reportedly $53 million dollars in debt. At the time, he blamed the enormous debt on his foray into fashion. Vanity Fair covered the story back then and explained that the fashion industry required significant upfront costs and could promise little in return, which was happening to Kanye West after the failed launches of Pastel, his first line of sneakers, and Yeezy. A failed women’s line with A.P.C. in 2011 put him behind $30 million. He also went 16 million dollars further into debt trying to get Yeezy off the ground in 2016.
While that line would eventually help him become a billionaire, it came at a cost. West finally found success in fashion through his Adidas, Gap, and Balenciaga collaborations but felt like he lacked the control he wanted. As we all know, he eventually got out of all those deals and tanked his finances in the process, having every door closed in his face following his antisemitic remarks.
Without the massive Yeezy royalties lining his bank accounts, West is spiraling and is said to be losing money by the day as several projects and properties tank in the process. His spending has not helped at all, as he’s currently in the middle of a very expensive Malibu renovation while living in pricey hotels and trying to fund a presidential campaign. Not to mention several of the companies he burned bridges with were able to go in and freeze his accounts so he could not access the money he made with them.
West is going to need that bread because he’s got a massive I.R.S. bill he needs to take care of. He owes almost $600k in unpaid taxes in California and has been receiving notices for two years. The taxes are related to his Yeezy Apparel line. The line recently forked over $950k to the L.A. district attorney for false advertisement. MSN reports that this tax issue could allude to even bigger financial issues for West, who has seemed to power forward through all his recent business losses as if they did not happen.
“Multiple California tax liens, adding up to $600,000, that’s certainly a sign of either extreme incompetence or extreme cash problems,” Edward McCaffery, a tax law professor at the University of Southern California, told MSN. The I.R.S. is not the only ones after West, as it appears he is also being sued for illegally sampling the song “South Bronx” by Boogie Down Productions on his song “Life of The Party.” He is also facing eviction, with his Yeezy offices owing back rent. Radar Online reports West owes at least two months’ rent on the office space in Calabasas.
Building owner, CT Calabasas is demanding the rapper pays his past due balance in full or face immediate eviction.
