Kanye West Sued By Former Yeezy Employee For Alleged Sexual Harassment
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on June 3, 2024 at 6:49 PM EDT
Updated on June 3, 2024 at 7:04 PM EDT
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been sued by his former assistant. This latest suit comes two months after a former employee accused him of discrimination and harassment.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, rapper Kanye West has been accused of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Kayne West Accused Of Sexual Harassment
Per the lawsuit, Kanye West's former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, worked in the music industry for approximately 15 years and has held positions in and as Artist Management and Representation, A&R, Marketing Consultant and Project Management.
Due to her success, Ms. Pisciotta interacted professionally with many artists, including Kanye West, AKA Ye. She creatively collaborated with the rapper on the Yeezy Season I women's fashion line and placed three songs on "Donda," his 10th studio album, which was eventually released in 2021.
Around July 2021, Ms. Pisciotta was "requested that she serve as [Ye's] Executive Assistant/Personal Assistant in connection with the business affairs of all defendants herein and the personal affairs" of the rapper.
At the time, Ye stated to Ms. Pisciotta that "he was impressed with her prior tenures as [his] employee, and they agreed on a salary for Ms. Pisciotta of $1,000,000 per year," but required she be available "24/7."
She accepted the salary.
Lawsuit Filed Against Ye For Alleged Sexual Assault
According to the lawsuit, Kayne West was "aware" of the accuser's "strong social media presence, comprised of Ms. Pisciotta's Instagram and an OnlyFans accounts, the latter of which was run entirely by an independent management company, and he did not have any issue or objection to it."
Her social media generated approximately $1,000,000 annually.
Per the suit, Ye later "boasted" to friends that Ms. Pisciotta was "an OnlyFans Superstar."
"[Her] social media presence included but was not limited to Instagram and OnlyFans and content of, among other things, professional bikini and lingerie photographs as a result of professional and tasteful photoshoots," the lawsuit states.
In and around August 2022, Kanye West reportedly asked Ms. Pisciotta to be "God like" and asked her to delete her OnlyFans account. If she agreed, he said he would pay her $1,000,000.
She decided to move forward, thereby giving up the annual sums generated from her OnlyFans. Ye allegedly never paid her.
Disturbing Texts Sent To Former Assistant
Ms. Pisciotta also claims Kanye West began to send a series of text messages, including one that read (transcribed by TMZ):
"See my problem is I be wanting to f-ck but then after I f-ck I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f-cked while I'm f-cking them. Then I want her to cheat on me ..."
Another text she claims she received from Ye reads (also transcribed by TMZ):
"Is my d-ck racist? It is. This f-cking racist d-ck of mine. I going to beat this f-cking racist d-ck for being f-cking racist. I'm going to stare at pictures of white woman with black as--es and beat the sh-t out of my racist -ck ... Beating the h-t out of his big black c-ck."
Details Of Alleged Sexual Harassment Revealed
The suit then claims that Kanye West "engaged in a systematic, severe and persuasive and offensive campaign of unlawful harassment based on [Ms. Pisciotta's] sex, including sexual harassment, in violation of various provisions of FEHA."
Ms. Pisciotta claims that he m-sturbated in front of her, and over-shared intimate sexual details, photos, texts and videos of sex acts, "including without limitation acts that [Ye] was engaged in and other pictures and videos of Instagram models, current and former YEEZY, LLC employees and various men and women."
On or about October 21, 2022, Ms. Pisciotta was terminated and was offered $3,000,000, which she accepted. However, they allegedly never paid. "Defendants then reneged on their commitment to pay the severance to Plaintiff," the suit states.
Kanye West Accused Of 'Stalking'
The suit further states that Kanye West has an "obsession" and "fixation" with Ms. Pisciotta, "stalking" her after she was "wrongfully terminated."
In late 2022, Ye allegedly moved into the building where she lived. After doing so, his unprofessionalism and harassing conduct continued.
She "did not welcome or encourage these offensive acts, texts, videos, and statements," the lawsuit claims. "Nor did she condone Kanye West's aforementioned offensive, demeaning, embarrassing, and abusive behavior. Instead, notwithstanding the harassment, discrimination, and abuse, she remained focused on performing her job, and she remained as professional as possible."
Ms. Pisciotta is suing for at least $4,000,000, citing breach of contract, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and a hostile work environment.