Kanye West and his Yeezy sneaker business are being sued for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination by a former assistant of the rap star who claims she is owed $3m after enduring intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In a lawsuit, Lauren Pisciotta alleges West – whose legal name is now Ye – sent her lewd texts and performed sex acts while on the phone with her, according to the website TMZ.
Pisciotta, 35, claims she was fired in 2022 after she was not delivered a promised promotion to West’s “chief of staff” at a salary of $4m. She also contends that a multimillion-dollar severance package was never paid.
Court papers containing Pisciotta’s lawsuit against West were filed Monday, according to multiple news outlets.
In the complaint, Pisciotta alleges she had worked in the music industry for 15 years, collaborated with West on season one of his Yeezy women’s fashion line, and contributed to three songs on his Donda album.
The plaintiff claims that West hired her as his “executive assistant/personal assistant” and offered her an annual salary of $1m on condition that she was available to him “24/7”.
Pisciotta, a former OnlyFans model, says that she was making $1m annually from her account on the platform. But a year after hiring her, West said he wanted her to be “God-like” and offered her $1m to delete the account, which she did.
Pisciotta claims she then received explicit messages from West and that he masturbated in front of her while on a flight to Paris.
According to the filing, West allegedly wrote: “See my problem is I be wanting to fuck but then after I fuck I want a girl to tell me how hard they been fucked while I’m fucking them.”
He also allegedly added: “Then I want her to cheat on me.”
Pisciotta also claims that West instructed her to deliver him a sexual enhancement “honey” before his sexual encounters, was “fixated on the penis size” of her boyfriends, and sent videos of himself having sex with a model.
West, who lost a contract in 2022 with Adidas after wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt and posting an antisemitic tirade on X, recently signed a new contract with Nike. Meanwhile, Adidas continues to market a billion dollars worth of West’s Yeezy-designed stock – but without the brand name.
Before Pisciotta’s lawsuit, West had referred to a “full-on pornography addiction” that “destroyed my family” and had previously been accused of lewd behaviour, too.
Last year, former employees of his Yeezy fashion line told Rolling Stone he played pornographic films during staff meetings and showed an intimate photograph of Kim Kardashian, his former wife.
Representatives of West have not responded to Pisciotta’s lawsuit, according to reports. The Guardian has reached out for comment.
