Kanye West’s legal troubles are piling up like Yeezy sneakers in an Adidas warehouse.
On June 3, the rapper and designer’s former assistant sued him for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. Lauren Pisciotta, who worked for West for two years, alleges that he sent her sexually explicit texts and behaved inappropriately in her tenure with him.
West has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
🚨What just happened
According to the filing, obtained by the Blast, Pisciotta worked in the music industry for 15 years in various positions. West hired her as a creative collaborator on his Yeezy Season 1 women’s fashion line (which came out in 2015) and she worked on his 2021 album Donda.
In July 2021, she was hired to “serve as [Ye’s] Executive Assistant/Personal Assistant in connection with the business affairs.” She said they agreed on a salary of $1 million a year, but she had to be available “24/7.”
The year prior to being hired full time by West, Pisciotta said she made $1 million creating content on OnlyFans and social media posts. Initially West was OK with that continuing — describing Pisciotta to people as “an OnlyFans superstar” — but in August 2022, he changed his mind. She claimed he asked her to be “God-like” and delete the OnlyFans account. He would pay her $1 million, she claimed, and she agreed.
Pisciotta claimed he never paid her and started sexually harassing her. She alleged he would send her messages that were sexual in nature and masturbated during phone conversations with her. She claimed he texted her pornographic videos of himself.
Pisciotta also alleged that on a plane en route to Paris, West called her into a room and closed a door, which couldn’t be opened from the inside, and masturbated under the covers in a bed, according to Rolling Stone.
Pisciotta said she was promoted to chief of staff for West’s various companies in September 2022 and was told she would be given a $3 million bonus. The next month, she was offered a $3 million severance package. She said she never received the money.
Her lawsuit claimed West has an “obsession” with her, at one point moving into the building where she lived, and “stalking” her after she was “wrongfully terminated.”
She “did not welcome or encourage these offensive acts, texts, videos, and statements,” the lawsuit says.
Pisciotta is suing for at least $4 million, also including citing breach and a hostile work environment.
⚖️ West’s explosion of legal troubles
West’s legal team has been working overtime in the last two years. His antisemitic meltdown in 2022 led to huge financial fallout, including the closure of his school, Donda Academy, and the termination of fashion partnerships with Adidas. It’s resulted in several lawsuits:
April 2024: Benjamin Deshon Pravo, who worked as a security guard at Donda Academy, sued him for racial discrimination, claiming West showed preference to his white employees over Black ones. Pravo also claimed Ye fired him after he refused to cut his dreadlocks.
The same month, Trevor Phillips, who worked at Donda Academy as well as for Yeezy, sued, alleging West engaged in discriminatory and antisemitic behavior. He claimed the rapper likened himself to Hitler and created a hostile work environment. Phillips said West wanted to shave students’ heads and lock them in cages.
February 2024: West claimed Adidas was suing him for $250 million. While that lawsuit doesn’t appear to have ever been filed, West could have been referring to the former Yeezy manufacturer filing a private arbitration case against his Yeezy LLC. The company said West’s “racist, antisemitic, and other offensive public statements and conduct” violated their partnership agreement and hurt the brand.
September 2023: Tony Saxon, who worked as a live-in caretaker, security guard and project manager at West’s multimillion-dollar beachfront Malibu, Calif., mansion, sued him for $1 million. He claimed he was forced to work in dangerous conditions, while the property was renovated to be a 1910s-style bomb shelter, and he wasn’t paid what he was promised. Saxon claimed he had to sleep on the floor of the property and use a coat for bedding, injuring his back in the process.
June 2023: Paparazzo Nichol Lechmanik sued West for allegedly throwing her phone into traffic. She claimed she had been filming him arguing with another photographer. He noticed her in her car and confronted her, before grabbing the phone from her hand. Lechmanik is suing for assault, battery, negligence and interference with the exercise of her civil rights.
May 2023: Gap Inc. sued West for $2 million related to the dissolution of their partnership. He pulled the plug on the deal in 2022, claiming Gap failed to fulfill its agreement in putting his products in stores and opening Yeezy Gap stores.
April 2023: Teachers Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers filed a lawsuit claiming Donda Academy failed to acknowledge their complaints after detecting “multiple health and safety violations, as well as unlawful educational practices.” They said the school didn’t follow California state regulations for students in need of educational services, additional testing or individualized learning plans. They said there was no bullying prevention, janitorial services and medical services, and the school didn’t follow nutrition guidelines for lunches. A third teacher, Timanii Meeks, later joined the lawsuit.
