Kanye West's 'Cruel Winter' Vid A Fake

We were duped too. A video thought to be linked to Kanye West's Cruel Winter release is, in fact, not his. Director Austin Christianson, who has worked with Wiz Khalifa and Rihanna, said the trailer was made outside of the artist's G.O.O.D. Music or his label, Def Jam.

Late last week, a video circulated via YouTube that appeared to be a follow-up of West's Cruel Summer project. According to Fuse, the video is actually a concept that had been made public with the aim to work with West and was only intended for him to see, though it made its way into the press around the world.

"Without getting into many details, I will say that the trailer was independently made and the video is essentially a concept trailer... It's used for pitching an idea and/or concept to a client," Christianson told Fuse. "With that said, the video was being used for pitching purposes and it's naturally intended only for the client to see."

Apparently Christianson had opted to work with West and decided to reach out to him in a not-so-private way. The brouhaha ramped up when Def Jam denied involvement and the trailer was removed. For his part, West's crowd has not referenced the fake Cruel Winter trailer and hasn't even confirmed if one is in the offing.

[Source: Pitchfork]