He’s been at the center of at least 13 major lawsuits in just two years.
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is facing a mountain of lawsuits over Yeezy business practices, sexual harassment claims, alleged use of racist, inflammatory language and berating employees because of their various identities, and the handling of the controversial school he founded in 2022, Donda Academy. While erratic behavior and a litany of legal complaints are nothing new for the rapper, his recent batch of lawsuits comes amid backlash over the public antisemitic and anti-Black comments West made in October 2022, forcing the fashion world to largely abandon the artist, his brand partnerships to crumble, and his overall stock to plummet. Below, every recent lawsuit we could find against West, including the latest, in which he’s accused of bullying employees and exposing staff members, including minors as young as 14, to pornography. West has not responded to many of the allegations.
Bishop David Paul Moten v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
Attorneys for David Paul Moten allege the rapper used an unlicensed sample of a sermon delivered and owned by the Texas bishop in the 2021 Donda song “Come to Life.” “Approximately one minute and ten seconds (1:10) of this sound recording is sampled directly from Plaintiff’s sermon and appears to run on a loop underscoring the pre-chorus and chorus throughout the song in question,” the lawsuit claims. “Consequently, no less than twenty percent (20%) of the entire sound recording ‘Come to Life’ is comprised of unauthorized, unlicensed samples of the Sermon.” The filing points out West’s troubled history with using unauthorized samples in his music, calling his actions an “alarming pattern and practice of willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission.” The bishop has sued for violation of the U.S. copyright act, unjust enrichment, and punitive damages incurred by the unauthorized use of the sermon. UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings, and G.O.O.D. Music are also named in the lawsuit.
When was it filed?
May 3, 2022, in federal court in Dallas.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
Representatives for the rapper did not respond to press requests for comment when news of the lawsuit broke.
Ultra International Music Publishing, LLC v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
In yet another copyright infringement lawsuit, West was accused of using an unlicensed sample for his 2022 Donda 2 track “Flowers.” The song “directly samples an iconic song written by another Chicago native, Marshall Jefferson, in 1986,” the lawsuit alleged: “That song, titled ‘Move Your Body,’ and known as ‘The House Music Anthem,’ is instantly recognizable; the unauthorized sample taken by West is repeated at least 22 times throughout ‘Flowers.’” The filing painted West as a hypocrite who publicly advocates for the fair treatment and proper compensation of artists while exploiting them in private. Donda 2 was exclusively released on West’s Stemplayer in 2022, with “Flowers” used as a means to promote the device. The lawsuit claimed West and his team were aware that the sample was unauthorized. “During discussions with representatives for Mr. Jefferson and UIMP, West and his representatives acknowledged that ‘Move Your Body’ was sampled in ‘Flowers,’ and was done so without authorization or payment to UIMP or Marshall Jefferson,” the filing stated. “Despite this acknowledgment, West has not ceased distribution of ‘Flowers.’” With West claiming he made over $2 million in profit from the Stemplayer containing a sample of the 1986 classic, plaintiffs believed they were wrongfully shut out of the earnings. Worse, the Stemplayer allows users to customize songs using stems, or elements of the song, giving users the opportunity to infringe as well. Attorneys for Ultra Music Publishing cited copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement as causes of action. West and his Stemplayer team, Yeezy Tech and Kano Computing Ltd, are among those named in the suit.
When was it filed?
June 29, 2022, in federal court in Manhattan.
What’s the status?
Settled. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres dismissed the case on May 3, 2023, after parties agreed to an undisclosed settlement, Reuters reported.
What was West’s response?
Beside settling the suit behind closed doors, West did not respond to the suit. Greenberg Traurig, the law firm that originally represented West in the case, cut ties with the rapper following antisemitic comments he made in October 2022. His new firm, Angeli Law Group, did not comment on the case, either.
David Casavant, LLC v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
David Casavant Archive, a high-end fashion archive founded by the menswear stylist of the same name, accused West and Yeezy Apparel of failing to pay rental fees for 13 garments and retained them despite not paying. The garments’ weekly rental fees total $2,705 per week, the lawsuit said, totaling $221,810 for the 82 weeks held from October 2020 to the date of the filing in July 2022. The company also claimed West owes $195,100 in replacement fees for the rare pieces, making the full amount owed over $400,000. “The items are all rare, esteemed pieces valued for their scarcity and importance in fashion history,” the lawsuit said. “They are not fungible commodities.”
When was it filed?
July 5, 2022, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
The Archive filed a motion to dismiss on September 28, 2022.
What was West’s response?
The rapper did not respond to requests for comment when the suit was filed.
Phantom Labs v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
Phantom Labs, a production and design firm, alleged it only received partial payments, or sometimes none at all, for its work on Sunday Services, the Free Larry Hoover Concert, the Donda 2 livestream event, Coachella, warehouse fees, and other projects from June 2021 to April 2022. For the first several months of their partnership, West and his team paid the firm in a timely manner, but invoices totaling to $6 million pile up, the lawsuit claimed. “Phantom faithfully performed all the work that Ye and his team requested and approved, often on short notice, incurring millions of dollars in budgeted expenses and other costs on Ye’s behalf,” the complaint stated. “In delivering for Ye and his affiliated brands and entities, Phantom not only deployed countless hours of in-house talent but contracted with and advanced payment to third-party vendors and merchants.” After West pulled out of Coachella, he allegedly saddled Phantom with an additional $1.1 million in related cancellation fees and expenses incurred while planning the show at West’s request. Phantom said it sent multiple demand letters to West, but to no avail. “With over $7.1 million outstanding, Phantom has been forced to file this lawsuit to recover what it is owed,” attorneys wrote. West’s companies Very Good Touring, Yeezy Apparel, and Yeezy, LLC are named in the suit.
When was it filed?
July 14, 2022, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Phantom Labs filed a motion to dismiss on May 22, 2023.
What was West’s response?
Attorneys for West filed documents arguing that the production company “failed to perform its services,” citing “carelessness” and “negligence.” The rapper claimed the company “performed so poorly that any further payment would be unreasonable and unfair,” saying the original contract cannot be enforced because the parties “substituted a new and different contract for the original.”
Surface Media, LLC v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
Surface Media alleged West refused to pay reservation, customization, and use of its rental space as a recording studio. The company — which operates a Miami design district showroom of curated furniture, art, and design objects that can be rented for events — sued West to recover funds associated with a January 2022 booking. According to the filing, West and his team confirmed that they would rent the space for the month and customize it, removing objects with a collective value of $50 million, purchasing furniture, and moving in sound equipment for their use. West, alongside Pardison Fontaine, 88-Keys, and others began using the space to record music. When Surface Media sent West and his team an invoice for the previously agreed-upon rental fee and costs associated with customizing the space, West failed to pay “any amount whatsoever.” “The Defendant materially breached the agreement between the parties by failing to pay the total amount of $145,813.00,” the complaint alleged. The company sued West for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. “My client pulled off what was essentially an overnight transformation of its art studio into a recording studio for Ye and accompanying artists,” Surface Media’s lawyer, Jonathan Smulevich, said in a statement. “In doing so, no request was too big or too small. Ye asked, and they delivered. And my client incurred significant costs and expenses to deliver.”
When was it filed?
October 24, 2022, in federal court in Miami.
What’s the status?
Settled. “The Plaintiff and the Defendant hereby stipulate that the Plaintiff’s claims in the above-styled action be dismissed with prejudice with the parties to bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees,” Surface Media said in a filing to drop the lawsuit. “The Court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the Settlement Agreement, which is not currently filed as a record with the Court.”
What was West’s response?
Representatives for the rapper have not commented on the matter.
Phase One Network, Inc. v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
The lawsuit accuses West of illegally sampling a song by rap group Boogie Down Productions for his Donda track “Life of the Party.” Phase One Network, the company that owns the rap-group copyright, alleges that West took key elements of the 1986 song “South Bronx” without proper clearance. The lawsuit claims representatives for Ye contacted the company to clear the sample and failed to make a deal, yet they released “Life of the Party” anyway. “Despite the fact that final clearance for use of ‘South Bronx’ in the Infringing Track was never authorized, the Infringing Track was nevertheless reproduced, sold, distributed, publicly performed, and exploited in numerous ways,” reads the filing. Not only did West allegedly engage in copyright infringement, but he also profited handsomely from it, according to the complaint. With West’s music-playback device Stemplayer providing distribution for the song, the rapper made over $2 million in sales of the iPod-esque gadget. Stemplayer also allowed users to split the song into its stems, or constituent parts, to be freely customized and remixed on the device, allowing for additional copyright infringement opportunities. Yeezy Tech, G.O.O.D. Music, Def Jam Recordings, UMG Recordings, and Kano Computing Ltd. are named in the suit.
When was it filed?
November 7, 2022, in federal court in Manhattan.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
In a motion filed on June 23, 2023, attorneys for the rapper asked a Manhattan federal judge to throw out the lawsuit, bizarrely citing an old comment from a Boogie Down member, Billboard reported. In a 2006 documentary available on YouTube, KRS-One said that his music is available to all. “I give to all MCs my entire catalogue,” the founding BDP member said in The Art of 16 Bars. “You will not get sued if you sample a KRS-One record or do an interpolation of my lyrics, anything. My entire catalogue is open to the public.” West’s team argued that it’s now Phase One’s turn to prove it owns the BPD copyrights.
Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers v. Kanye West and Donda Academy
What does the lawsuit say?
Two former teachers allege labor-code violations, unusual school rules for students and teachers, and discrimination in the lawsuit. Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, who say they were the only two Black female teachers at Donda Academy during their joint tenure, began working in November 2022 and January 2023, respectively. The filing describes allegations of “multiple health and safety violations, as well as unlawful educational practices” on at least three separate occasions, including failure to follow state regulations for students in need of educational services and the lack of Basic Life Support, mandatory reporting, and disciplinary training. For example, the lawsuit claims a student assaulted another student and attempted to assault a teacher. “In one incident, a student assaulted an eighth-grade student by slapping her, then attempted to assault another teacher. The student had multiple accounts of bullying, both physically and verbally, that had gone without discipline. However, there are several students with bullying issues that remain unaddressed.”
Moreover, teachers allege the school refused to hire janitorial services, a school nurse, or medical staff, in addition to a lack of nutrition guidelines and security precautions. In one now-famous incident, the lawsuit claimed the school only had one item on the lunch menu. “Throughout the entirety of Plaintiffs’ employment, the only lunch available for students was sushi, every single day,” reads the filing. “Students were not allowed to bring any outside food or anything other than water. It was widely known that Defendant West spends $10,000.00 a week on sushi.” Plaintiffs allege they were terminated in retaliation for discussing their complaints.
When was it filed?
April 5, 2024, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
The rapper did not respond to requests for comment.
Tony Saxon v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
A project manager tasked with living in and renovating West’s beachfront Malibu home is suing the rapper for withholding payment, retaliation, violation of labor code, and disability discrimination beginning in October 2021. Tony Saxon alleges his responsibilities included 16 hours of labor per day, hiring contractors, 24/7 security of the property, and on-site representation while living in “makeshift conditions, finding empty spaces on the ground and using his coat as makeshift bedding.” He was to be paid $20,000 per week and $100,000 for construction costs. Living inside an unfinished property in “near open isolation,” Saxon says he complained about the conditions to West and his team on “numerous occasions,” in addition to separate complaints about safety hazards due to workers demolishing the home without safety equipment. On multiple occasions, he claims he was “exhausted and overburdened” and needed to rest due to a severe back injury, but was asked about continuing the project in response. When Saxon told West it was dangerous to remove all electricity and windows from the house, the rapper allegedly raised his voice and said he would be an “enemy if he did not comply.” The project manager was terminated in November 2021, claiming West did not pay him for the $16,500 in work done the previous day or the $26,000 for materials bought by Saxon.
When was it filed?
September 13, 2023, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
He did not comment at the time of the filing.
Estate of Donna Summer v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
Bruce Sudano, executor of the Donna Summer estate and Summer’s widower, sued West for copyright infringement over the sample of the emblematic disco track “I Feel Love.” West and Ty Dolla $ign sampled the song on “Good (Don’t Die)” on Vultures I after the estate explicitly refused to grant clearance. “Summer’s estate, however, wanted no association with West’s controversial history and specifically rejected West’s proposed use of Summer’s ‘I Feel Love,’” the lawsuit said. “In the face of this rejection, Defendants arrogantly and unilaterally decided they would simply steal ‘I Feel Love’ and use it without permission.” The estate sought to recover damages, attorneys fees, and any profits earned by the unauthorized “blatant rip-off” of the song. “This lawsuit is about more than Defendants’ mere failure to pay the appropriate licensing fee for using another’s musical property,” read the complaint. “It is also about the rights of artists to decide how their works are used and presented to the public … it is about protecting Donna Summer’s own musical legacy.”
When was it filed?
February 27, 2024, in federal court in Los Angeles.
What’s the status?
Settled. The lead attorney for the Summer estate, Larry Stein, told Billboard that West “agreed not to distribute or otherwise use the song, so we got what we wanted.” Details of the settlement are sealed. The Vultures I song will continue to be unavailable on streaming services.
What was West’s response?
West and Ty Dolla $ign did not respond to requests for comment.
Trevor Philips v. Kanye West and Donda Academy
What does the lawsuit say?
Trevor Philips, a former Donda Academy employee, alleges breach of contract, discrimination, a hostile work environment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress over his time working at West’s controversial school experiment. The lawsuit claims West would treat “Black staff considerably worse than white employees” and would “scream and berate Black employees, while never even as much raising his tone at the white staff.” Trevor Philips, who worked at the school from November 2022 to August 2023, accuses West of spewing hate speech, expressing antisemitic views and lies, targeting the LGBTQ+ community, and “sexually stimulating himself” on one occasion. When Philips “pushed back” against this behavior, he claims West responded “mercilessly” by humiliating and harassing Philips or threatening him with physical violence, culminating in West berating him in front of 100 people in an “immature temper tantrum.”
“In front of the schoolchildren, Kanye continued his dangerous rhetoric. Kanye started to openly discuss how he only likes to date white women,” the complaint reads. “Then addressing the two schoolchildren, Kanye told them that he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages. The staff quickly distracted the children and escorted them out of the room.”
Philips also alleges the rapper bragged about spending $2 million of the school’s budget on a trip to Paris. “While Kanye considered himself a god or king, in reality he was an ill-tempered tyrant and despot who sought to mentally obliterate and control those around him,” the lawsuit reads.
When was it filed?
April 2, 2024, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
He did not respond to requests for comment.
Benjamin Deshon Provo v. Kanye West and Donda Academy
What does the lawsuit say?
In yet another Donda Academy lawsuit, West is accused of discrimination, labor-code violations over retaliation allegations, enabling a hostile work environment, and breach of contract. Much like the Philips v. West case, plaintiff Benjamin Deshon Provo alleges the rapper treated Black employees far worse than their white counterparts. For Provo, the alleged mistreatment led to West demanding that he cut off his dreadlocks, which he wore in honor of his Muslim faith, or be fired. In the lawsuit, attorneys for Provo write that he was hired to work as a Donda Academy security guard around August 2021 after a mutual friend connected the two. “The location Plaintiff was originally hired to work at was closed as a result of unsafe conditions, including lack of windows for ventilation, lack of sufficient fire hydrants, and several other health and safety hazards,” reads the suit. At the new location, Provo allegedly “was assigned additional job duties as a result of a lack of staffing, including providing snacks to children, transportation for children, and teaching students nutrition.” Outside of the school, Provo says he worked as a security guard for Sunday Service events and a Yeezy warehouse.
Provo alleges West held “disdain for Black culture,” claiming the rapper told anyone associated with Donda Academy to “dispose of books related to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other prominent figures in the Black community.” After complaining about the pay disparity he noticed between Black employees and non-Black employees, Provo allegedly “began to notice a decrease in his paychecks.”
When was it filed?
April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
West did not respond to requests for comment at the time of the filing.
Lauren Pisciotta v. Kanye West
What does the lawsuit say?
A former chief of staff for West accuses him of quid pro quo sexual harassment, gender discrimination, a hostile work environment, and failure to pay wages. Lauren Pisciotta alleges that she became West’s executive assistant around July 2021 at the rapper’s behest for an agreed-upon $1 million salary. In the meantime, she accused West of asking her to shut down her popular OnlyFans account and work solely for him, promising to pay her the same salary she earned from the app, to which Pisciotta agreed. She alleges that the sexual harassment began after she left her former role. The rapper would allegedly masturbate during their phone calls and ask Pisciotta to guess what he was doing; masturbate under a cover while she was trapped in a room with him; send sexual text messages, photos, and videos, which included images of West having sex; and proposition her for sex. Included in the filing are several examples of the offensive messages, descriptions of videos, and screenshots of images. The rapper raised her salary to $4 million in 2022, though he allegedly did not pay out the increase. Shortly thereafter, Pisciotta says she was fired. West allegedly failed to pay out an agreed $3 million severance package. West’s Yeezy companies are also named in the suit.
When was it filed?
June 3, 2024, in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
A legal rep for West called the claims “baseless” on June 4. The statement alleged: “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.” West’s legal team also claimed Pisciotta “used sexual coercion” to obtain money and gifts, promising to countersue.
YZYVSN Employees v. Kanye West and Milo Yiannopoulos
What does the lawsuit say?
Eight employees, some of whom are minors, are accusing West of failing to pay team members for long hours, forcing them to deal with his erratic and discriminatory behavior, referring to them with the monikers “slaves” and “new slaves,” and sharing pornography in official group chats, per the Washington Post. Trouble began when West tried to launch his own streaming service, YZYVSN, made by a group of developers for him. According to the lawsuit, the app had a global team of staffers, including some as young as 14 years old. Employees say the official communication via the app Discord became hostile work environments, the lawsuit alleged, where they were harassed and bullied over their gender, age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Similar to other lawsuits against West, Black staffers claim racial slurs were used to degrade them, while their white counterparts were promised jobs at Yeezy. Current staffers were called “slaves,” according to the lawsuit, while new staff members were added to a Discord channel called “new slaves.” (Black employee Shemar DaCosta successfully lobbied to get the name changed, the lawsuit said.) Milo Yiannopoulos, West’s former chief of staff, “actively participated in and perpetuated” the racism, allegedly sending Black and brown emojis to chat with staffers of color.
In the group chats, minors were allegedly exposed to porn when West and his wife, Bianca Censori, started brainstorming “Yeezy Porn,” an adult-film company. “No guardrails were put in place to prevent the underage YZYVSN workers from working on Yeezy Porn, or to prevent them from being exposed to and being forced to view pornography to perform their work,” the lawsuit says. Censori allegedly sent a staff member a link to “hard-core pornography.” When the app was finished, workers never received the agreed-upon payment.
When was it filed?
June 29, 2024, in federal court in Los Angeles.
What’s the status?
Ongoing.
What was West’s response?
West did not respond to requests for comment. Yiannopoulos denied the allegations on X, calling the lawsuit a “joke.”
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