The rapper shared a photo of the editor of a fashion magazine on his Instagram account to mock her appearance and fashion sense.
US rapper Kanye West pictured at Vanity Fair magazine’s Oscar party in California on February 9, 2020. EPA / AOP
Kanye West, whose stage name is Ye, is in legal trouble after sharing a photo of a Vogue editor to mock her on Instagram, reports say TMZ and Daily Mail.
The 46-year-old rapper was sued by a photographer Michaela Effordwho says West used her photo without getting permission to use it.
Efford had taken over from the assistant editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Vogue From Gabriella Karefa-Johnson a photo the rapper shared on his Instagram account to mock her outfit.
The social media taunt apparently started when Karefa-Johnson previously criticized West for wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the White Lives Matter slogan.
Slogan is defined pushing for white supremacy. It became public in 2015 as a racist protest against the Black Lives Matter movement against police violence experienced by African Americans.
At the time, Karefa-Johnson described wearing the shirt as “reprehensible behavior” in one of her Instagram stories.
Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson pictured at a charity event in New York on May 24, 2023. Sansho Scott/BFA.com/Shutterstock/AOP
Stung by the criticism, West began mocking Karefa-Johnson’s appearance, fashion sense and her professional qualifications.
Efford says in court documents that he took a picture of Karefa-Johnson in September 2022, and West published the picture without permission about a week later.
According to Efford, West’s Instagram post made it difficult for him to market and license the photo of Karefa-Johnson.
The photographer is demanding an unspecified amount of damages from the rapper.