CALABASAS >> The weekend tabloids were all abuzz on how rapper and fashion designer Kanye West hoped to buy up the black-and-gold colors of Calabasas High School and send its popular coyote slinking into the weeds.
But then school administrators pooh-poohed rumors of any alleged celebrity high school uniform makeover.
“All we know is that a representative of Kanye West spoke with the principal last week — a low-level beginning meeting,” said Kim Prince, a spokeswoman for the Las Virgenes Unified School District. “There’s no proposal on the wall. Nothing was signed. No numbers were quoted.
“Basically, what we’re hearing — and what’s been all over the Internet — are rumors.”
It was TMZ that first reported the singer also known as Yeezy, who lives with wife Kim Kardashian in Hidden Hills, was “gunning for (a) Yeezy deal with Calabasas High School.”
The website reported West had spoken with school officials to pitch a business partnership to trade West’s fame for the CHS Coyote name.
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The owner of the Yeezy fashion line purportedly hoped to replace the 42-year-old high school’s signature black-and-gold uniforms — and rename its teams from Coyotes to Wolves.
To complete the deal, according to TMZ, West would pay big bucks to refurbish the Calabasas High School campus, including a major upgrade to its gym.
Never mind that the closest wolf in the wild may live in eastern Arizona, more than 500 miles away.
Two years ago, the singer had debuted his hip-hop single, “Wolves,” at a fashion show where he also launched his new Adidas shoe, broadcast live to dozens of venues around the world.
On Sunday, he debuted his Adidas YEEZY Powerphase “Calabasas,” a $120 sneaker named after the west San Fernando Valley city.
A decade ago, the upscale community appeared as a co-star in the first of the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” reality-TV series.
Then Kanye West and Kim Kardashian shelled out $20 million to buy an eight-bedroom mansion from Lisa Marie Presley in the nearby gated city of Hidden Hills, now being remodeled for a reported $10 million more.
But it will be years before their two young children, North and Saint, could flaunt Coyotes — or even Wolves — jerseys at Calabasas High.
Requests to speak with Calabasas High School Principal C.J. Foss were directed to Kim Prince of the Las Virgenes school district. The school of roughly 1,800 students was in mourning Tuesday after the weekend death of 15-year-old freshman Dylan Harlan, 15, and his father, Jim Harlan, in a plane crash in Ventura County.
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Administrators said losing the Coyote mascot was a nonstarter.
On Monday, the superintendent for Las Virgenes schools also strongly denied a weekend rumor that West had planned to sink $20 million into remaking Calabasas High. He said West had met with C.J. Foss to tour the school and propose a partnership but that no proposal was made.
“The $20 million, I don’t know where that’s from. There was no discussion of funding or financing. There was certainly no discussion of any amount. So the $20 million is categorically not accurate,” Superintendent Dan Stepenosky told Fred Roggin of KLAC AM 570 Sports, in a phone interview.
But would he consider a name change for the proud Calabasas High Coyotes?
“That’s a tough pill to swallow.” Stepenosky said. “No, the alumni base would lose their mind. No, that’s not on the table.”
