The owner of a Melbourne burger bar sued by the American rapper better known as Kanye West will give away free burgers after Ye’s Federal Court case collapsed with a whimper.
Ye made international headlines when he sued College Dropout Burgers and owner Mark Elkhouri in 2022, alleged misleading and deceptive conduct by the restaurant named after his 2004 record The College Dropout.
He accused the restaurant, in Ivanhoe, in Melbourne’s inner-north, and Mr Elkhouri of implying they were affiliated with Ye or had his sponsorship or approval.
But after filing the case in October 2022, Ye and his lawyers went quiet.
No one appeared in the Federal Court on Friday, when Mr Elkhouri’s lawyers successfully sought for the case to be dismissed, and an order that Ye pay their costs.
Justice Shaun McElwaine said such orders so early in a case should only be used sparingly. But Ye and his lawyers had already defaulted on legal obligations three times and had not responded after being notified of the application on Tuesday.
“One would have thought if he was seeking to preserve his claims and prosecute this proceeding he might have thought it necessary to appoint a lawyer to appear before me today. He has not done so,” Justice McElwaine said.
After filing the proceeding, Ye had taken “absolutely no steps” to progress it, he said.
After the ruling, Mr Elkhouri took to social media to celebrate his victory – and offer free burgers to his supporters.
“Tomorrow (Saturday) … I will be showing my gratitude to not only the Ivanhoe community, but to give back to those who have supported me throughout,” he wrote in a post on College Dropout Burgers’ Instagram stories.
“Everyone is welcome! If the turnout exceeds my expectations, then f— it, I’ll keep serving til everyone in line gets a burger.”
The freebies will be available between 2-3pm Saturday, with a limit of one per person.
Mr Elkhouri finished with “an extra thanks” for his lawyers.
He said the legal proceedings had left him out of pocket, but he wouldn’t say by how much. Nor was he holding his breath that Ye would pay him back.
Whether the College Dropout name will stick, Mr Elkhouri wasn’t sure.
“Now that I’m not bullied to do anything about it, perhaps I might change the name, but if I do it’s on my terms,” he said.
At the end of the day, Mr Elkhouri said he was still a fan of West who in many ways inspired the person he became, but didn’t support “this Ye character” or the narrative he has tried to portray.
West formally changed his name to Ye in 2021, saying the new name was a reflection of “our good, our bad, our confused, our everything”.
Mr Elkhouri said he would never deny the impact of people like West had on his life. But his court experience led him to look closer to home for role models, such as his wife Amanda and father Sammy.
“I’ve come to a realisation that my true idols are the people that are close to me … these are the people who I look up to on a daily basis and these are people who are realistic idols – I can follow in their footsteps,” he said.
And he’ll still throw in a Kanye reference where he wants to.
“The question everyone keeps asking is ‘what I would have done if we didn’t win’ – I guess we’ll never know,” he said, quoting Ye’s 2005 Grammy Award winning speech for The College Dropout.
In a random twist, Ye’s new “wife”, former Melburnian Bianca Censori, grew up in Ivanhoe.
The couple were reportedly planning a trip to Australia, so Ye could meet his new in-laws, who still live in the area. It’s not known if a visit to College Dropout Burger is on the cards.
– with AAP
