American Rapper Countersues Former Manager Over $5.4m Retainer Contract

American rapper Kanye West countersued his former business manager who alleged the rapper failed to pay him a $300,000-per-month retainer fee.

The embattled rapper argued that he is not liable for paying the 18-month worth of fees totalling $5.4million to Thomas St. John, head of the TSJ international accounting firm, because he was sleep-deprived when he signed a contract without the help of a lawyer in March 2022,

West’s former business manager only worked with the rapper for three months despite a clause in the signed contract that required him to be paid for 18 months until November 2023.

St. John stated in a $4.5million lawsuit filed in October that when he confronted West about the unpaid retainer fee, the rapper grew “heated and aggressive” and began cursing at him.

In the countersuit, West, who changed his name to Ye, stated that he was “sleep-deprived, stressed, anxious, and under duress” when he hired St. John amid his divorce with reality star Kim Kardashian.

He prayed the judge to axe the contract and require St. John to pay up the $900,000 pay cheque he received.

He, however, missed in the overlooked contract that he agreed to pay his businessman ex-manager for a year and a half without the option of termination.

Punch/Victoria Ibanga