Melbourne Kanye West-Themed Restaurant Hit With Cease And Desist

July 1, 2022

Kanye West is reportedly none too happy with a Melbourne restaurant profiting off his creative efforts. As Broadsheet reports, the target of Kanye’s disdain is Ivanhoe’s College Dropout Burgers, who were hit with a cease and desist letter recently.

The restaurant has been around for a number of years. It gets its name from Kanye’s 2004 album, The College Dropout, and utilises graphics from his 2007 album, Graduation. In addition to altering the mural featured at the entrance of the shop, the restaurant has been asked to rename the various burgers on the menu that bear references to Kanye’s songs.

Kanye refuses to be a burger

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A post shared by College Dropout Burgers ™ (@collegedropoutburgers)

In a recent Instagram post, owner Mark Elkhouri said that the cease and desist came after Kanye began to view the restaurant’s Instagram Stories, having viewed at least ten after following them in mid-2021. Unfortunately, it appears as though the rapper may simply have been scoping out the establishment before hitting them with legal action.

Speaking to Broadsheet, Elkhouri explains that while he – a university drop-out himself – will retain the store’s name, he will instead rebrand burgers after other famous dropouts, like Quentin Tarantino, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. As such, burgers which bore names like Graduation, Saint Pablo, and Parties In L.A. have now been subtitled with references to Pitt, Albert Einstein, and Jobs.

Elkhouri said he felt a deep level of disappointment over the incident, but still maintains respect for Kanye, especially in regards to how he’s managed to shine a light on issues related to mental health.

“It was never about publicity,” Elkhouri told Broadsheet. “The name isn’t just a reference to his first album, it’s about what we set out to accomplish. I wanted to change that narrative of Kanye West being seen as ‘crazy’ and I wanted people to revisit his music … I haven’t stopped playing Kanye West’s music here.”

Currently, College Dropout Burgers have removed their logo from the storefront, with plans to replace it in the immediate future.