Kanye West is facing a lawsuit from the parents of Natalie Green, the then-4-year-old girl sampled on his Life of Pablo track “Ultralight Beam,” as TMZ reports. In the lawsuit, Andrew and Shirley Green claim that the rapper got permission from Natalie’s biological mother Alice Johnson, rather than through the couple, who adopted the girl in December 2012. The Greens claim that Johnson had no legal right to clear the sample.
The lawsuit also alleges that Johnson never received a written license for the sample, and that the rapper never paid Johnson any money for his use the viral clip. The Greens are now seeking from “Ultralight Beam” in addition to other damages. On Friday, Kanye was involved in a New York Fashion Week scam with Malik Yusef, who used a fake charity affiliation and forged Kanye signature to swindle $900,000 from fashion designer Philipp Plein.
