Simply because Ye eats totally free at Mar-a-Lago doesn’t suggest he can eat from the Freelancers’ plates totally free. The infamous Kanye West simply came upon to not mess with freelancers.

As reported in Business Insider, New York-based artistic director Katelyn Mooney filed a grievance in opposition to Kanye West’s Yeezy model on Dec. 7, 2022, claiming she was owed $95,000. The mother-of-three was promised $110,000 for the work she carried out, however was solely paid $15,000 regardless of performing the work and agreeing to the sum.

“This abuse of an unbiased freelancer was exactly the kind of exploitative habits in opposition to which the Freelance Is not Free Act (FIFA) was enacted,” the lawsuit states

The lawsuit cites NYC’s landmark Freelance Is not Free Act (FIFA), which provides freelance employees the proper to a written contract, well timed and full cost, and safety from retaliation. The legislation establishes penalties for violations of those rights, together with statutory damages, double damages, injunctive aid, and attorneys’ charges and prices if a freelancer’s case goes to small claims court docket and wins.

We proceed to see the actual penalties of NYC’s groundbreaking Freelance Is not Free legislation, which has protected over 2,000 freelancers and recovered over $2 million in owed compensation for his or her work in New York Metropolis.

That is why we urge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to signal the statewide legislation that handed each homes of the Legislature and simply made it onto her desk as we speak. The Freelancers Union will not cease till we get this legislation in each state, as a result of we all know that whereas Ye is a high-profile instance, 70% of freelancers have had issues with non-payment. We stay up for holding Ye accountable in New York and combating for Freelancers all over the place.

The Freelancers Union appears ahead to taking Freelance Is’t Free to each metropolis and finally to the federal level and stopping the yess and dangerous actors of the world.