Kanye’s fresh beef with Melbourne burger joint

The controversial rapper has made good on his threat to sue a humble Ivanhoe burger joint after he forced it to rebrand.

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West has launched legal action against Ivanhoe’s College Dropout Burgers. Picture: AFP

The rapper formerly known as Kanye West has launched legal action against a Melbourne burger shop.

West, who legally changed his name to Ye, has made the court move against Ivanhoe’s College Dropout Burgers.

The former husband of Kim Kardashian filed an originating motion and statement of claim in the Federal Court late on Friday, accusing the burger joint and its owner Mark Elkhouri of misleading and deceptive conduct.

“I can’t understand what would motivate a major artist to sue a small humble burger restaurant on the other side of the world,” Mr Elkhouri told the Sunday Herald Sun.

The legal action comes after lawyers acting for West sent Mr Elkhouri a cease and desist letter earlier this year demanding all references to the superstar and his work be removed from the shop.

Kanye West started following the College Dropout Burgers Instagram page in September 2021, before sending a cease and disist letter. Picture: Instagram

The College Dropout Burgers had to rename their burgers to remove references to Kanye West. Picture: Instagram

The tile on the College Dropout Burgers Instagram page after they removed the Dropout Bear logo from the business. Picture: Instagram

The celebrated burger joint opened on Upper Heidelberg Rd in May last year and was originally themed in honour of the US music and fashion star.

West was featured in a mural at the front of the business and several menu items such as the “Gold Digger” fried chicken burger and the “Good Morning” breakfast burger were named after his songs.

The shop’s emblem was also inspired by the “Dropout Bear” — a logo created and made famous by West.

Even the name of the shop had a West link: The College Dropout was the name of West’s first album.

Mr Elkhouri responded to the cease and desist notice in June by painting over the mural, dropped the Dropout Bear, changed the name of the offending burgers and commissioned a new logo for the business from a local artist.

“College Dropout Burgers has respectfully removed all references to Ye, establishing a new direction, theme and brand identity,” he said.

However, he kept the name of the business, noting that he was himself a college dropout.

It can also be revealed that in February, Mascotte Holdings, the company that holds all of West’s trademarks, filed an opposition with IP Australia to Mr Elkhouri’s application to trademark the name College Dropout Burgers.

The opposition claimed the trademark was likely to deceive or cause confusion, was similar to a trademark which had acquired a reputation in Australia and that the application was made in bad faith.

Global law firm King & Wood Mallesons is acting on behalf of West’s Mascotte Holdings in the trademark opposition and for West in the Federal Court matter.

The firm was unable to comment on the court action when contacted.

West has been lurching from headline to headline in recent weeks.

He was called out for making anti-Semitic remarks on Twitter, was temporarily banned from both Twitter and Instagram, offered to buy right-wing friendly social network Parler and had a firey exchange with Piers Morgan during a TV interview.

On Saturday, Paris-based fashion house Balenciaga became the latest brand to cut ties with West after his bizarre anti-Semitic statements.