Kanye West faced several tax liens against his Yeezy brand and failed to pay taxes on two properties in Calabasas, California. According to legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Ye owed more than $1 million to the state of California.
Yeezy Apparel owed $934,033.56 for four active tax liens. The California Franchise Tax Board most recently sought to collect $319,356.58 from Ye’s company in 2023. The lien was related to unpaid taxes from October 2021 to March 2022.
West’s business was first hit with a tax lien for $13,999.28 in 2021. Yeezy Apparel had unpaid taxes for a few months in 2020.
The Franchise Tax Board filed two more liens against Yeezy Apparel in 2022. One demanded $279,085.99 for unpaid taxes from January 2020 to March 2021. The other aimed to collect $321,591.71 from the tax period of April 2021 to September 2021.
West also owed $101,093 in unpaid taxes for his properties in Calabasas. Since 2021, Ye stopped paying taxes on an apartment and mansion he bought with his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. Both properties went to him in their divorce.
The tax debts loomed over West’s head as he prepared to drop his new album Vultures with Ty Dolla $ign. Last month, Ye apologized for his past antisemitism ahead of the project’s release.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for my unplanned outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused,” he wrote in Hebrew on Instagram. “I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
The Anti-Defamation League viewed West’s apology as a positive first step if he continued the long journey of atoning for his hateful comments. The American Jewish Committee was more critical, condemning the apology for being inaccessible and calling it a possible ploy for attention.