Publicist was ‘not associated with’ Kanye West when she pressured
election worker - West spokesperson
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[December 13, 2021]
By Jason Szep and Linda So
(Reuters) - A publicist accused of
pressuring a Georgia election worker to confess to false allegations of
committing voting fraud was not “associated” with rap star Kanye West at
the time she visited the worker, a representative for West said.
Reuters reported on Friday that the publicist, Trevian Kutti, met on
Jan. 4 with Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County election worker who had been
targeted by then-President Donald Trump and his allies with baseless
claims that she processed fraudulent votes to favor Democrat Joe Biden.
Freeman told Reuters that Kutti tried to implicate her in election fraud
and warned her that she could be arrested. Kutti also said the election
worker faced unspecified “danger,” according to a police report. She
sought to pressure Freeman into confessing in exchange for help,
according to Freeman, who said she ended the conversation.
A number of media reports have cited Kutti’s association with West since
2018.
Pierre Rougier, a spokesperson for West, said in a statement to Reuters
on Sunday: “Trevian Kutti was not associated with Kanye West or any of
his enterprises at the times of the facts that are reported in these
articles or since these facts occurred.”
Rougier did not answer additional questions from Reuters on whether
Kutti worked for West at other times, or whether West and Kutti knew one
another. Before publishing Friday’s story, Reuters sought comment from a
different representative for West but did not get a response.
Kutti did not respond to requests for comment made Sunday morning.
In October, the hip-hop artist changed his name from Kanye West to Ye.
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Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman processes ballots in
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brandon Bell
A biography of Kutti described her as the founder of Trevian Worldwide,
a media and entertainment advisory firm with offices in four cities. The
biography, posted on the website of the Women’s Global Initiative, a
business networking group, identified her as a member of “the Young
Black Leadership Council under President Donald Trump.” It noted that,
in September 2018, she “was secured as publicist to Kanye West” and “now
serves as West’s Director of Operations.”
By Saturday, the bios of Kutti and other members of WGI’s team had been
removed from the group’s website. The women’s initiative did not respond
to requests for comment on Sunday.
Reuters has detailed a campaign of harassment and intimidation against
Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, also a Fulton County
election worker. The women received hundreds of threats and harassing
messages after lawyers for Trump claimed in December 2020 that the women
had pulled “suitcases” of fraudulent ballots from under a table on
election night and fed them into vote tabulators.
The claims were quickly debunked by county and state election officials,
who said the “suitcases” were standard ballot containers and the votes
were properly counted.
Trump and his allies continued to falsely accuse the women of election
fraud, sparking months of threats that they said upended their lives.
Some angry Trump supporters visited Freeman’s home. The 62-year-old
temporary election worker went into hiding.
(Reporting by Jason Szep and Linda So; editing by Brian Thevenot)
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