Kanye West claims that Ice Spice recorded a verse for his “New Body” track, and that it hasn’t seen the light of day yet because her team has been blocking its release.
In a since-deleted post to his Instagram Story on Tuesday (March 19), Ye wrote, “ICE SPICE SENT A VERSE IN FOR NEW BODY NOW HER TEAM IS SAYING WE CAN’T USE IT.”
The post was in response to his former team member YesJulz leaking a text exchange where they spoke about sending the song to both Ice and Doja Cat to see “who sounds best.”
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The song was made in 2018 with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, and was supposed to be released as part of the Yeezy boss’ since-scrapped Yandhi album the following year.
Ye and Ty then planned to release it on Vultures 1 earlier this year, but Minaj ultimately denied permission because, as she put it, “that train has left the station.”
Kanye West claims Ice Spice's team blocked their “New Body” collab from being published pic.twitter.com/BtUVnxykFo
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 20, 2024
YesJulz (real name Julianne Goddard) didn’t specify why exactly she was leaking the aforementioned texts, though it appeared to be in response to being sued by Kanye West amid her unceremonious departure from his team.
“I am not an influencer,” she wrote in the caption of the text leaks. “I am a manager, producer, host, A&R, consultant, friend, and most importantly, an honest, loyal, and hard-working single mother.”
The rapper and producer cut ties with her last week, writing on his Instagram Stories: “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the rollout of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.”
An email purportedly written by Yeezy chief of staff and far-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos that was sent to her also began circulating online soon after.
“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. “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 note that any further violations will accrue more fines.
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“Because you are being terminated for cause but also because you forgot to sign your contract your termination is effective immediately.”
Kanye later revealed he’s taking Julz to court for the alleged NDA violation.
In an Instagram Story, Ye claimed he filed what is known as a Notice of Intent to Arbitrate Before the Judicate, which is a precursor to a lawsuit. In it, he claims his ex-employee “repeatedly, intentionally, and grossly” violated the terms of their non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which in turn prompted the lawsuit.
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“To say Goddard suffers from a lack of impulse control would be to excuse her from responsibility for behavior that is hurtful, hateful and destructive; it is to give her pattern of mendacious, malicious, manipulative outbursts a pass,” he claimed, noting that the alleged damages were “in excess of $8 million.”
For her part, YesJulz seems confident she will be victorious in the matter.
