Well, I mean, there is definitely some similarity going on here. In a new lawsuit brought on by Kanye West and his Yeezy sneaker brand, the two are going after Walmart for selling fake Yeezy-like shoes.
On Thursday, Ye filed a complaint in a Los Angeles, California court claiming Walmart has been selling fake versions of his Foam Runner slides, the New York Post reported.
The popular shoes made their debut last year at a retail price of $75. However, many criticized Yeezy’s shoe, saying it had an unflattering similarity to Crocs. Still, they “instantly” sold out, and when sold by third parties, they sell for upwards of three times the original price.
But the knockoff shoes being sold on Walmart’s website are retailing between $21.99 and $33.99 a pair. Apparently, the billionaire rapper has warned Walmart that he would take legal action and demanded that they remove the shoes from its site.
Walmart has yet to do so, the lawsuit claims.
“Walmart is flagrantly trading off of his and Yeezy brand’s popularity by offering for sale an imitation version of the Yeezy Foam Runner,” according to the suit. The legal salvo goes on to claim that “the Yeezy brand is worth ‘billions’ of dollars, and the potential loss from the imitation shoes in the ‘hundreds of millions.’”
The shoe brand is concerned about the similarities between its shoe and Walmart’s shoe because they appear to be “virtually indistinguishable” from the real thing.
The suit even referenced a customer’s comment left on the site about Walmart’s version of the shoe, “My son has been wanting the Yeezy slides but these look similar and are much more affordable.”
“Consumers likely would have purchased the Yeezy Foam Runner were it not for the cheaper, knock-off imitation shoe,” according to the complaint.
The suit goes on to slam Walmart, saying their sneakers are of “subpar quality,” which is hurting the “reputation and the goodwill of the Yeezy brand.” It also referenced customers’ complaints that the shoe fits poorly and “ripped after 20 minutes of wear.”
As of Thursday, some of the counterfeit Foam Runners can still be found on Walmart’s website through the search engine. The search can also pull other fake Yeezy-style merchandise, including the “Yeezy Inspired Slides.”
Walmart released a statement, saying, “The product referenced in the complaint is not sold by Walmart, but rather by third party Marketplace sellers. We take allegations like this seriously and are reviewing the claim. We will respond in court as appropriate after we have been served with the complaint.”
This isn’t the only legal battle between Ye and Walmart. There is a trademark dispute between the two over a “rays from the sun” logo design that West wants to use for Yeezy. However, Walmart says it looks too much like its 12-year-old sun logo.
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