Kanye West pictured for first time in weeks after former business manager said he was ‘missing’

A former employee had been unable to locate West to serve him legal papers

Kanye West has been seen out and about in public for the first time in weeks after a former business manager claimed the rapper was “missing”.

Thomas St John, who was the “Gold Digger” musician’s senior financial advisor for 18 months, is reportedly suing West over lack of payment. However, St John claimed he was unable to locate the rapper in order to serve him.

On Monday (9 January), West was spotted as he was photographed by paparazzi driving around Los Angeles with an unidentified blonde woman. The pair were then seen entering the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Beverly Hills, per the photos published by TMZ.

According to the court documents filed on 19 December, obtained by The US Sun, Thomas sought more time to serve the lawsuit papers to West.

West, also known as Ye, is named as the defendant on the documents, alongside Yeezy LLC.

As well as not being able to reach West directly, Thomas and his team have reportedly had difficulty reaching legal representatives for the divisive musician and entrepreneur.

The court filing stated: “We were advised about a new law firm for defendants, but not a specific point of contact. We subsequently learned of information in the news that the law firm identified as new counsel was not affiliated with the defendants.

“Accordingly, we have not been able to serve defendants through their counsel. As a general matter, we have had difficulty confirming the best current address of Kanye West.”

At the time of writing, a case management conference has been set for April 2023.

Kanye West (Getty Images For Balenciaga)

West’s representatives did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

In recent months, West has found himself mired in various controversies. In early December, West made some shocking antisemitic comments, including stating on Alex Jones’s Infowars web show: “I like Hitler.”

Earlier in the year, he was dropped from his contracts with Adidas and Balenciaga over “hateful and dangerous” comments relating to Jewish people.

The London branch of Madame Tussauds also removed its wax figure of West from public view.