LOS ANGELES (CN) — A civil suit brought by a construction worker against controversial hip-hop artist Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, is expected to go trial later this week.
The suit is essentially a workplace dispute. Tony Saxon claims the 48-year-old rapper and fashion mogul owes him more than $1 million in unpaid wages and expenses for a disastrous remodel of an "architectural treasure" on the beach of Malibu that was abandoned halfway through.
Ye himself is expected to be called as a witness by the plaintiffs, as is his wife, Bianca Censori. The 12-day jury trial will be held in one of the smaller LA Superior Court rooms. Last week, during the final status conference, Superior Court Judge Brock Hammond issued a note of caution about courtroom decorum.
“The parties and witnesses you’re calling must comply with the basic dress code of the court. No hats, sunglasses, or revealing clothing. No drama,” Hammond told both sets of lawyers, according to Rolling Stone. “And if someone doesn’t comply, they will not be allowed in the courtroom. If a witness is not dressed appropriately, they will be turned around at the door.”
The comment is being interpreted by many as warning to Ye and Censori, both of whom are known to wear controversial outfits — Ye has been seen wearing a T-shirt with a swastika on it, while Censori has worn "invisible" dresses.
Saxon was hired by Ye in 2021 to help supervise the remodeling of a beachfront home in Malibu designed by Pritzker-wining Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Ye had bought the home for $57.3 million, a staggering sum for a house with just 4,000 square feet of interior space, one that reflects the cultural cache of Ando.
But Ye, who fancies himself something of a budding architect himself, had special plans for the house on Malibu Road — that is, many sets of ever-changing plans. He wanted stairs replaced with ramps, no cabinets, no windows, no doors and no electricity or plumbing — an off-the-grid house that was not only open plan but open to a public beach. The project languished for three years, thanks to Ye's indecision and distractions, including a divorce, a number of lawsuits filed by former employees and various Hitler-related controversies. Finally, Ye sold the property for $21 million — a steep loss. The mansion, gutted to within an inch of its life, is currently under construction and back on the market for $39 million.
In his complaint, Saxon says he was told that his pay rate would $20,000-a-week, and that he only received two transfers: one on Sept. 29, 2021, for $20,000, his first week of work, and one for $100,000, two days later as the weekly budget for the bizarre endeavor. Saxon hadn't just been acting as contractor and project manager — he'd been the de facto security guard for a house which sat open facing the public beach, often "sleeping on a mattress on the floor, surrounded by Cliff Bars and Red Bulls, and bothered by seagulls," according to a New Yorker story.
In November 2021, Ye ordered Saxon to cut the power to the house. Saxon was reluctant because he thought it would be dangerous and disruptive to move in gas generators. According to the complaint, Ye told him: “If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore and you’ll just see me on TV.”
“I don’t watch TV," Saxon says he replied. To which Ye then said, according to Saxon: “Leave.”
Saxon claims Ye owed him $42,500 in wages and the costs of supplies. In addition, Saxon is also seeking compensation for overtime, "emotional distress," medical expenses — he claims he severely injured his back on the job — and punitive damages.
Ye argues Saxon was working as an unlicensed contractor, and therefore not entitled to any compensation, citing California's business and professions code, which bars anyone without a contracting license from suing over lost compensation for contracting work.
Last month, Ye brought his own lawsuit against Saxon, claiming that his old employee wrongfully put a $1.8 million lien on the Malibu house. The rapper refers to a statement made by Saxon's attorney, Ron Zambrano — “If someone wants to buy Kanye’s Malibu home, they will have to deal with us first. That sale cannot happen without Tony getting paid first.”
“These statements were designed to create public pressure and to interfere with the plaintiffs’ ability to sell and finance the property by falsely conveying that defendants held an adjudicated, enforceable right to block a transaction and divert sale proceeds,” Ye claims in his countersuit.
Saxon's is just one of more than a dozen lawsuits filed against Ye in the last decade by his former employees. A number of the plaintiffs worked for Donda Academy, a short-lived private school started by Ye where students were given sushi for lunch every day, where tables, chairs and crossword puzzles were strictly forbidden, and where the second floor was off limits because Ye, according to the complaint, "was reportedly afraid of stairs." Three teachers claim they were fired for raising concerns about "sanitation, health, safety [and] education standards.
A former security guard claims, in his own suit, that he was ordered "to prevent paparazzi from interacting with Kanye by any means necessary, including acts of violence." Another man, Trevor Phillips, is suing Ye over discrimination, accusing the Grammy-winning rapper of spewing a litany of "antisemitic tropes and lies," including, at times, praising Hitler. According to Phillips, West once said: “HITLER WAS GREAT. Hitler was an innovator! He invented so many things. He’s the reason we have cars.” And an unnamed Jewish woman is suing Ye over what she calls "a calculated campaign to threaten and psychologically torment Jewish people around him."
In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his many antisemitic and racist remarks, blaming a 2002 car accident that triggered a bipolar disorder, which in turn caused him to gravitate "toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika.”
"I lost touch with reality," he wrote in the lengthy message. "Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret.”
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