ALL OVER THE PLACE

Kanye West’s Rep Denies He’s Headed to Russia to Talk to Putin

West’s team denied the claims after a Billboard article reported he was headed to the country for business.

Kanye West, through a spokesperson, has denied he’s headed to Russia (complete with his Sunday Service Choir in tow) to meet with President Vladimir Putin. “Entirely fabricated. Work of fiction or wishful thinking from these Russian people,” Pierre Rougier, a representative for West, told Rolling Stone in an email. West’s associate Ameer Sudan had earlier told Billboard that the rapper intended to make the country “a second home.” “He will be spending a lot of time out there,” Sudan said. The musical enigma was also reported to meet with Russia’s Trump-like figure Aras Agalarov, who’s infamous in the U.S. for setting up Donald Trump Jr.’s 2016 Trump Tower meeting, and work with Agalarov’s son, Emin, to help bolster his profile in the country. Rob Goldstone, a publicist for the Agalarovs who also helped set up the Trump Tower meeting, told Rolling Stone that “there are talks going on” but would not comment further.