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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

Kanye West hires Melinda Gates’s lawyer in ongoing Kim Kardashian divorce battle

Kanye West has also retained a lawyer in LA

(Picture: Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company)

Kanye West has ‘hired’ the same lawyer who represented Melinda Gates in her $130 billion divorce from ex-husband Bill Gates, according to a new report.

TMZ has said that Robert Stephan Cohen has become West’s sixth divorce attorney in his ongoing legal drama with ex Kim Kardashian.

Page Six also reported that a rep for the senior partner at Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP confirmed to them that West recently hired Cohen as counsel.

Since Cohen is based in New York, TMZ reported that the hitmaker, 45, has also retained Beverly Hills-based attorney Nicholas A Salick of Salick Family Law Group, APLC as counsel as his legal separation is being tried in Los Angeles.

The attorney previously represented Chris Rock in his divorce from his wife of 20 years, Malaak Compton-Rock.

Cohen marks the sixth attorney West has hired in his divorce from Kardashian, 41, as he works on settling custody of their four children, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, as well as property.

Kimye at the Met Ball when they were a couple (AFP via Getty Images)

Last month, Samantha Spector, West’s fifth divorce lawyer, withdrew from the case after two months due to an irreconcilable breakdown with the rapper.

Prior to Spector, the Grammy winner relieved attorney Chris Melcher of his duties in March.

Sources told TMZ at the time that West let go of the lawyer because their relationship “had become extremely difficult, with little communication”.

Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021, after nearly seven years of marriage, and has had a contentious co-parenting relationship with West since their split, notably during her nine-month relationship with Pete Davidson.

Melinda Gates hired the same attorney during her divorce from billionaire tech mogul Bill (handout)

The SKIMS founder previously spoke out about her frustration over her ex’s ever-changing counsel as he blasted her repeatedly on social media.

In February, she penned: “I wish to handle all matters regarding our children privately and hopefully he can finally respond to the third attorney he has had in the last year to resolve any issues amicably.”

The former couple were declared legally single this March.

Evening Standard has contacted Kanye West and Robert Stephan Cohen’s reps for comment.

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