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Kanye West has been accused of engaging in “forced labour and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment” at his company Yeezy, in a new lawsuit.
Eight former employees, some of whom are minors, allege that Ye and his company did not pay team members for long working hours and subjected them to derogatory behaviour.
The suit also claims that his wife, Bianca Censori, sent porn to staff members at the rapper’s company.
Censori, 29, allegedly sent one of the employees a link to watch “hardcore” sexual content after West, 47, announced the launch of the adult film branch of his business, Yeezy Porn, in April.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the videos were accessible to minors among the staff who were developing the porn app. The suit alleges that staffers were as young as 14.
Censori is not the target of the federal lawsuit, but the incident was included as an example of the alleged problems with the work environment.
“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 reads, according to The Washington Post.
The suit also claims that West’s former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, referred to some staffers as “new slaves”, and that the working environment was racist, with repeated false promises being made regarding payment and working hours.
Workers were allegedly forced to work through the night without pay or sleep.
The employees are seeking payment for unpaid wages and attorney fees, as well as damages for emotional distress.
Yiannopoulos, who left Yeezy in May due to tensions over the adult film company concept, called the lawsuit a “joke” in a statement on X on Sunday (30 June), claiming it was a “sad race hustle”.
He added: “I’ll eviscerate the complaint line by line tomorrow on camera, including his bonkers racism claims. Truly, it’s the most dishonest thing I’ve ever seen filed with a court. (And I’ve worked for billionaires and megastars for a decade.)”
In another tweet, he wrote: “All I’ve done since is try to get these app developers paid, as voluminous correspondence demonstrates. Anyone asserting otherwise is uncritically repeating mendacious lies from a lawsuit that takes more imaginative leaps than The Lord of the Rings.”
The Independent has contacted representatives of Censori, West and Yiannopoulos for comment. Censori and West are yet to comment publicly on the new suit.
West has only just settled another lawsuit against him.
Last month, the rapper reached a settlement with the estate of Donna Summer over a copyright dispute about Summer’s 1977 song “I Feel Love” featuring in the 2024 album Vultures 1.
West was accused of sampling the track in his album despite being denied permission by late singer’s estate.
Also in June, West issued a lengthy response to another lawsuit from his former assistant who is suing him for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Lauren Pisciotta, 35, alleged that West bombarded her with explicit messages and, in one incident, masturbated in front of her after offering her $1m to delete her OnlyFans account in 2022.
“In response to these baseless allegations, Ye will be filing a lawsuit against Ms Pisciotta, who actively pursued him sexually to coerce employment and other material benefits, then engaged in blackmail and extortion when her advances were rejected,” the statement from West’s legal representative read.
West’s team said Pisciotta was terminated for being unqualified for the position and demanding unreasonable sums of money, allegedly asking for a $4m annual salary. They also accused her of “lascivious, unhinged conduct”.
The rapper’s team also said she had “demanded money and material items, namely Hermes Birkin bags, a Lamborghini and an endless quest for plastic surgery”.
