Kanye West Sounds Off on Management Split: I Cant Be Managed

February 2024 · 5 minute read

Kanye West sounded off on his split with co-managers Scooter Braun and Izvor Zivkovic — among many other topics — in a Wednesday morning Twitter fusillade.

“I no longer have a manager. I can’t be managed. I’m nobody’s ‘client,’” he tweeted, before claiming in subsequent posts that his Yeezy apparel clothing business will “hit a billion dollars” in 2018 and is “on its way” to becoming a decacorn (a company with a $10 billion valuation). He also said he’s currently “the single highest paid person in footwear.”

“Yes I got rid of my last lawyer why?,” he continued. “Because he wouldn’t come to work full time. I also asked my last manager to come work full time for Yeezy of course the last lawyer and manager said no. So now I hired a CEO and a CFO and i have two full time lawyers as of now,” although he did not reveal their names.

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West also called out TMZ chief Harvey Levin for questioning his mental stability, as many have since the MC began tw eeting with a vengeance earlier this month after a long absence.

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“Harvey Levin of TMZ your hearing from your future president. Let’s be friends. Please never use the word erratic to describe a person who is economically and psychologically empowered.” In a following tweet he wrote, “People magazine. Watch how you speak my name. You would love a pair of Yeezys.  Don’t play yourself.”

He also continued his Trump and right-wing references, this time with a mention of “fake news.” Yet he bounced between multiple topics — including more references to the hypnotic “sunken place” from the film “Get Out” — and at one point posted a photo of his daughter North with a ladybug.

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989151925080752129
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/989155921048756224

A source tells Variety that in recent days West gave his core team, which included attorney Peter Paterno, an ultimatum: to conduct all business through his Yeezy organization. A suggestion to restructure his management and bring Braun’s services in-house was turned down, though the two may continue to work on other projects together between the two companies. “They parted on good terms,” says a source.

The split comes at a challenging time for West, who says he has lined up five albums for release in five consecutive weeks in May and June — one by himself, one in collaboration with Kid Cudi, and three that he produced, by Nas, Teyana Taylor and Pusha T. Until his abrupt return to Twitter earlier this month, the MC had kept a relatively low profile since the last 21 dates of his “Saint Pablo” tour were cancelled in November of 2016 after he was hospitalized in Los Angeles for psychiatric evaluation. West’s behavior during the tour had been erratic and included several pro-Donald Trump onstage comments as well as his abrupt departure from the stage during New York’s Meadows Festival when he learned that his wife, Kim Kardashian, had been robbed in Paris.

During his time with Braun, West launched a successful partnership with Adidas and saw his highest grossing tour in “Saint Pablo.”

While it remains unclear whether West is truly a Trump supporter or is simply trolling everyone, he’s certainly adopted and expanded upon the president’s social media strategy. At press time, West was still tweeting away…

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