Kanye West can’t stay out of trouble. On the day that Russian media reported on his visit to Moscow, including a visit to Red Square and a stay at the Four Seasons, news is bouncing around the United States that the rapper, who goes by the name Ye, is being sued by employees who are demanding damages for creating an inhumane and denigrating work environment and for not paying them, while his wife Bianca Censori sent pornographic material to the staff. TMZ has seen court papers naming West and Milo Yiannopoulos, the former chief of personnel at the rapper’s company, YZY, as defendants in the lawsuit. The two are accused of making false promises of payment to adult and minor employees and forcing them to work excessive hours, while being openly mocked with racist jokes and called “new slaves.”
Wife Bianca Censori is not among the accused
Despite the allegations also involving Censors, his wife is not among the defendants. It all started in the spring of this year, when Ye decided to launch a music streaming app to promote his new albums independently of other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. For his debut in the tech industry, West hired a group of developers from around the world, including children as young as 14. These new employees worked mostly remotely, remaining in constant communication with Ye, Milo and the rest of the team through Discord, Zoom and Slack. It is in the chats on these apps that the evidence supporting the case has been etched: black and brown face emojis sent to black employees, a minor called a “school shooter,” and the consistent use of racist and derogatory language about employees based on their age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality by the mostly white managers who coordinated the work from the headquarters in Calabasas, north of Los Angeles.
in-depth analysis
Kanye West Accused of Sexual Harassment by Ex-Assistant
Volunteer Agreement for Minors
In April, Yiannopoulos promised to pay developers $120,000 after the app was completed. Minors were instead required to sign a voluntary agreement. Later that month, Ye also announced the launch of a porn production company called Yeezy Porn, for which he had consulted industry veteran Mike Moz, the ex-husband of Donald Trump accuser Stormy Daniels, according to TMZ. To “inspire” workers in this new venture, long dreamed of by the most controversial rapper in America, his wife Bianca Censori sent a worker a file-sharing link with hardcore videos, which could also be viewed by minors. After a period of non-stop work, the team of developers delivered an app on May 1. But the payments did not go out. That’s when the complaint was filed, which has been filed in court with a lawsuit seeking compensation for unpaid wages and overtime and emotional damages.
