A Brooklyn creative director claims in a new lawsuit that Kanye West’s fashion label owes her nearly $100,000 for a photo shoot with the Yeezy founder and his sunglasses line.
Katelyn Mooney — a well-established freelance creative director in the fashion industry — said she was approached by Yeezy employees on Sept. 11 to do a two-day-only shoot for West’s new sunglasses line called SHDZ, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. from Wednesday.
Mooney — who has worked with brand giants including L’Oreal, Nike and Coke, according to her website — was hired by Yeezy for $110,000, the filing claims.
Mooney made sure filming was ready to go at 7 a.m. on Sept. 13, when West was in town for New York Fashion Week, the filing said.
Mooney “frantically” prepared “for one of the busiest times of the year in New York City’s fashion circles” by securing models, lighting, catering and pre- and post-production for the shoot, which she booked to take place at Blonde + Co Studios, the suit claims.
“Kanye West arrived on set, modeled his SHDZ sunglasses, and the shoot was completed later that day,” the filing states.
Then Mooney provided the final digital files of the photos a day later on Sept. 14, which “Yeezy had no problem with,” the court papers say.
Now, over two months later, Mooney has only been paid $15,000 of the $110,000 agreed upon in text messages with Yeezy employees — despite sending her an invoice and her repeated requests to be paid, the suit alleges.
Mooney, a mother of three, “has had to take out significant debt and max out her credit cards just to cover her rent and other bills,” the suit states. “This abuse of an independent freelancer was the exact type of exploitative conduct,” for which New York’s freelance laws were enacted.
“She put herself on an extremely tight schedule for this shoot and has had to go into significant debt just to pay her rent and bills and support her children due to Yeezy’s failure to timely pay her invoice on this,” Mooney’s attorney Andrew Gerber told The Post.
“It was her responsibility to deal with all the other suppliers for the shoot and because of that it has put her in an extremely precarious financial position because of the non-payment,” the lawyer added.
A Yeezy creditor told The Post via email: “All debts have been paid. We confirmed with her yesterday all amounts due and have submitted payments.”
But Gerber said this is “absolutely false. She has not been paid.”
