Bring out the big guns.
Kanye West has hired an experienced attorney who has considerable experience representing billionaires in divorce cases: Melinda Gates’ former attorney Robert Stephan Cohen.
A senior partner representative at Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP confirmed to Vidak For Congress on Wednesday that West recently hired 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 preparing financial statements, reviewing the details of his client’s assets and conducting an intro interview from 90 minutes on “the psychology of how to deal with divorce.”
The lawyer said of what he does for a living: “There’s the bad part, the destruction of a marriage. But the flip side of this is that we start people up and give them a new lease of life.”
Chris Rock, who hired Cohen to represent him in his divorce from his 20-year-old wife, Malaak Compton-Rock, told the site that his attorney’s calm presence helped him through a “very difficult time” in his life.
“Divorce lawyers are like doctors in a weird way,” said the 57-year-old comedian. “They must have a good way of sleeping. And Bob has a really good, calming demeanor. Helps you through it, shows you the big picture. He explains the reality 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 $76 billion settlement.
Cohen is West’s fifth attorney in this divorce case, as the billionaire entertainer has had a revolving door of attorneys representing him for the past year and a half.
In March, Yeezy founder fired attorney Chris Melcher just before a pre-scheduled court hearing.
Sources told TMZ at the time that West had let go of the lawyer because their relationship had become “extremely strained, with little communication.”
The father of four then retained Samantha Spector, but two months later, in May, she decided to remove herself from the business.
No exact details about her departure were disclosed, but Spector cited “an irreconcilable rift in the lawyer-client relationship” as the cause.
Kardashian, 41, has previously spoken out publicly about her frustration with her ex’s ever-changing counsel.
After the “Jesus Walks” rapper repeatedly taunted the “Kardashians” star on social media, she responded in part: “I want to handle all matters relating to our children privately and hopefully he can finally respond to the third lawyer he has 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 was declared legally single in March.