All the Lawsuits put on Kanye West(Photo Credit –YouTube/Instagram)
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Kanye West, the most popular rapper who somehow manages to always find himself in the headlines is facing a mountain of lawsuits. From sexual harassment claims to berating employees, Kanye’s erratic behavior has landed him in big trouble. While the legal troubles are not new for the rapper, the recent batch of lawsuits comes in the wake of his antisemitic and anti-Black remarks made in October 2022. Notably, the recent allegations include bullying employees and exposing staff, including pornography to minors. Although Kanye hasn’t responded to any of the allegations, here are the lawsuits against the rapper.
Yeezy Employees v. Kanye West and Milo Yiannopoulos
On June 29, 2024, Kanye West was sued by a group of former employees who accused him and former chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos of “fostering a racist environment” and forcing employees to work “insanely long hours.” As TMZ reports, developers hired to work on Ye’s Yeezy streaming service app intended to promote his new albums, Vultures and Vultures 2 have filed a lawsuit. It was revealed that they were promised $120,000 upon the app’s completion, but the developers were later coerced into signing nondisclosure agreements under the threat of job loss and non-payment. Furthermore, some employees including minors were required to sign “volunteer” agreements, admitting that they won’t get any compensation for their work. The developers revealed that they worked on the app remotely and on the completion of the app, they asked for their pay but neither Kanye nor Yiannopoulos responded to their request, leading to the lawsuit.
Moreover, the documents alleged that the developers were openly “mocked with racist jabs” and some of their colleagues were called “slaves” and “new slaves” during interactions. While West did not respond to the allegations, Yiannopoulos denied them on X and called the lawsuit a “joke.”
The recent lawsuit against Kanye West by former chief of staff, Lauren Pisciotta, alleges the rapper of quid pro quo sexual harassment, gender discrimination, creating a hostile work environment, and failing to pay wages. Pisciotta claims that she became Kanye’s executive assistant in July 2021 for a $1 million salary. Moreover, Kanye asked her to shut down her popular OnlyFans account to work exclusively for him, promising to pay the earnings from the app, to which she agreed. However, Pisciotta alleges that following the agreement, Kanye started sexually harassing her. The accusations mentioned by Pisciotta include Kanye masturbating during phone calls, sending explicit photos, videos, and text, and propositioning her for sex. Her lawsuit claims several offensive messages, screenshots of images, and descriptions of videos. Although Kanye raised her salary to $4 million in 2022, he failed to pay the increase, eventually firing her. The lawsuit also names Kanye’s Yeezy companies.
Kanye’s legal rep responded to the accusation, calling the claims “baseless” and shared a statement, “She was terminated for being unqualified, demanding unreasonable sums of money (including a $4 million annual salary), and numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct.” Kanye’s legal team also claimed Pisciotta “used sexual coercion” to obtain money and gifts, promising to countersue.
Benjamin Deshon Provo v. Kanye West and Donda Academy
In a new lawsuit, Kanye West was accused of “frequently screaming” and firing a former Black employee, Benjamin Deshon Provo, who worked as a security guard at the rapper’s Christian school Donda Academy. The employee claims he suffered “severe emotional distress” due to Kanye’s actions. The lawsuit alleges, “Kanye and members of his management team subjected Provo and other black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts. Specifically, Kanye frequently screamed at and berated black employees, while in contrast, he never so much as raised his tone of voice toward white staff.” He claims that Kanye demanded Provo to cut off his dreadlocks, worn for his Muslim faith, and face termination. Furthermore, he was given additional duties due to a shortage of staff and instructed Provo to remove books by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Eventually, Provo noticed a decrease in his paychecks. Neither Kanye nor his legal rep has responded to the allegations.
Estate of Donna Summer v. Kanye West
The executor of the Donna Summer estate, Bruce Sudano sued Kanye West for copyright infringement over the unauthorized sample of Summer’s iconic disco track, I Feel Love on the song Good (Don’t Die) from Vultures I. Despite the estate’s explicit refusal to grant clearance due to Kanye’s controversial history, he and Ty Dollar $ign used the sample without permission. The lawsuit remarked, “In the face of this rejection, Defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission.” Now the estate is seeking to recover damages, attorneys fees, and any profits earned by the “blatant rip-off” of the song. In response to the allegations, the lead attorney for the Summer estate told Billboard that the rapper “agreed not to distribute or otherwise use the song, so we got what we wanted.” The lawsuit is settled.
