Kanye West hires Melinda Gates’ lawyer for Kim Kardashian divorce
Pulling out the big guns.
Kanye West has hired a seasoned lawyer who has plenty of experience representing billionaires in divorces: Melinda Gates’ former attorney Robert Stephan Cohen.
A rep for the senior partner at Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP confirmed to Page Six on Wednesday that West recently retained him as counsel for the rapper’s divorce from Kim Kardashian.
Since Cohen is based in New York, TMZ reported that West, 45, has also hired attorney Nicholas A. Salick in California, where the case is being tried.
In a 2021 Insider profile, Cohen, 83, spoke about his process in dealing with celebrity divorces, including pulling financial statements, reviewing the details of his client’s assets and conducting a 90-minute intro interview about “the psychology of how to deal with the divorce.”
The attorney said of what he does for a living, “There’s the bad part, the destruction of a marriage. But the other side of this is we start people out and we give them a new life.”
Chris Rock, who hired Cohen to represent him in his divorce from his wife of 20 years, Malaak Compton-Rock, told the site that his lawyer’s calm presence helped him through a “very tough time” in his life.
“Divorce lawyers are like doctors in a weird way,” the comedian, 57, said. “They need to have a good bedside manner. And Bob has a very good, soothing manner. Gets you through, lets you see the big picture. He explains the realities of the situation.”
In one of his most high-profile cases, Cohen helped Gates, 58, walk away from her divorce from Bill Gates with an estimated settlement of about $76 billion.
Cohen is West’s fifth attorney in this divorce case, as the billionaire entertainer has had a revolving door of lawyers represent him over the past year and a half.
In March, the Yeezy founder fired attorney Chris Melcher just ahead of a pre-scheduled court hearing.
Sources told TMZ at the time that West let go of the lawyer because their relationship “had become extremely difficult, with little communication.”
The father of four then retained Samantha Spector, but she decided to remove herself from the case just two months later in May.
No exact details about her departure were disclosed, but Spector listed “an irreconcilable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” as the cause.
Kardashian, 41, has previously spoken out publicly about her frustration over her ex’s ever-changing counsel.
After the “Jesus Walks” rapper blasted the “Kardashians” star repeatedly on social media, she responded in part, “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.”
Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage. The former couple were declared legally single this March.