Kanye West has announced that he has fired influencer YesJulz from his team and levied a fine of almost $8 million against her over NDA violations.
West publicly severed ties with YesJulz (real name Julieanna Goddard) on Tuesday (March 12), writing on his Instagram Stories: “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the roll out of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.”
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An email, purportedly written by Yeezy chief of staff and noted white supremacist Milo Yiannopoulos, sent to the influencer was also leaked.
“Dear Ms. Goddard, enclosed please find a letter and statement of account from your time with Yeezy. Fines incurred to date as a result of your NDA violations come to $7.7m,” the email read.
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“While you were a contractor, I suspended enforcement of this debt. It now falls due. Hassan from the compliance team will reach out with information about payment. Please not that any further violations will accrue more fine.
“Because you are being terminated for cause but also because you forgot to sign your contract your termination is effective immediately.”
A follow up email from Yiannopolous said: “Obviously, you are fired.”
While the cause of her firing wasn’t made clear, the NDA violations appear to relate to an X Spaces session that was hosted by YesJulz along with various Kanye fan accounts.
During the broadcast, the influencer appeared to attempt to get the fans to work with her for free.
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While laying out her vision for a “Yeezy universe” app, she proposed rewarding the fans (who she referred to as Yeezy “generals”) with virtual currency for their contributions.
She did, however, note that none of the ideas had yet been approved by West.
“We could all close our eyes and imagine what a Yeezy universe would look like if we were in a video game. We know that we’d be willing to pay to pull up to the shows and watch those livestreams. We’d even be willing to pay to have a meeting like this where we can ideate together, not only with Ye but some of his most trusted collaborations,” she said.
“How do you guys see it where we’re collaborating for a month or two and then maybe there’s rewards. Say Massimo from Argentina is a player in the game that made this app. And the army members and generals that go to the [Yeezy] office everyday and are actually putting in work get rewarded with a coin or a ¥ dollar.”
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She further explained: “Say you get 500 points and that unlocks access to the music player that’s a mixtape that has all the stuff that has samples that weren’t cleared. Or you hit 1,000 points and that gets you into your own vehicle to drive around the [virtual] desert.”
During the stream, YesJulz also told one writer to “start acting like you work for Yews already,” referring to Kanye’s news platform Yews.
She also spoke about hiring a number of individuals in a variety of roles such as an events producer and somebody who could build a database of the biggest Kanye fans in each state that they could use to “target ads correctly.”
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She also told the fans on the call that the rap icon was aware of their work: “Ye sees and hears everything. He knows how active you’ve been. I know sometimes it might feel like you might be working all day, every day, and you’re work is not being seen or recognized.
“But let this week be a testament that every single thing that you guys do is appreciated and it’s 1,000 percent seen by myself, the team and most importantly Ye,” she added, referencing his song “Carnival” reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“He wants us all collaborating and gathering together and really becoming strong communities worldwide in different places.”
Following the Spaces conversation, Julz wrote on X: “That was so beautiful. I am beyond inspired.”
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Many fans felt differently, however, and criticized YesJulz’s proposal, with one accusing her of “scamming” Kanye fans and trying to run a “pyramid scheme.”
“This shit is ridiculous. YZY Generals? YZY Army? YZY Points? What the actual fuck?” one Discord user wrote. “YesJulz is clearly trying to benefit from us fans to create [a] workforce for free in order to boost her position in Yeezy.
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“YZY Coins? YZY Generals? A fucking pyramid scheme? What the fuck are they talking about?”
YesJulz has yet to publicly comment on her firing.
