Yeezy

Kanye West’s Former Teen Employees Want Millions In Damages Amid Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

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The group of teenagers taking legal action against Kanye West for fostering an allegedly hostile work environment are reportedly seeking millions in damages. According to court documents obtained by In Touch, the four minor children, along with adult plaintiffs, Shemar Dacosta, Pholoso Mofokeng, Miles Jackson-Lea, and Olakunle Olatunji are asking for a default judgment against Ye’s company Yeezy. The minors’ ages range from 14 to 17.

In addition to West, they’re also suing his former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, and the Yeezy LLC itself. They say the team hired them to help the development of an app that would work to promote the album, Vultures 2. However, the dream job soon took a turn for the worse, as they allegedly dealt with bullying over their sexual orientation and ethnicity. They further claim West’s wife, Bianca Censori, allegedly shared explicit files with the team while he was trying to get into the adult content business. The lawsuit alleges: “No guardrails were put in place to prevent the underaged 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.”

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Kanye West Hosts “Yeezy Season 8” During Paris Fashion Week

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 02: Kanye West attends the “Yeezy Season 8” show as part of the Paris. Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021 on March 02, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/WireImage)

As for damages, the group is seeking a total of $2,491,984 to cover unpaid wages, emotional damages, and even punitive damages. “An award of punitive damages is warranted to penalize Defendants for their intentional and malicious actions and to deter similar misconduct in the future. Defendants orchestrated a scheme to exploit Plaintiffs for their labor, including recruiting minors, subjecting them to abusive working conditions, and then refusing to pay them for their work,” their lawyer wrote.

The case is one of many lawsuits Kanye has faced in recent years. He’s also currently battling a complaint from a former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, who accuses him of sexual harassment.

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A Former Kanye West Employee Has Accused Him Of Going On ‘Antisemitic Tirades’ In A Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

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Kanye West (Ye) and Adidas’ lengthy courtroom battle is supposedly over. However, the “Carnival” musician is still facing a mountain of loaded lawsuits.

According to Rolling Stone, Kanye West along with his Yeezy brand and Donda Academy is being sued by a former staffer. In the documents obtained by the outlet, a supposed ex-employee, Murphy Aficionado, is accusing West of fostering a hostile work environment, discrimination, wrongful termination, labor code violations, and failure to pay wages.

Within the filing submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court by lawyers Carney R. Shegerian and William Reed, Aficionado claimed West went on “antisemitic tirades” on a “daily occurrence.”

The document transcribed one of the alleged encounters retold by Aficionado as: “The Jews are out to get me. They froze my bank account. The Jews got Kim [Kardashian] and my kids. The Jews convinced Kim [Kardashian]. She has Jewish masters.”

Aficionado continued, saying: “Ye’s antisemitic tirades and conspiracies were a daily occurrence. Often, these outbursts involved how Jews controlled the Kardashians. Other times, Ye recounted how Jews were going after him and his money.”

He also accused Kanye West of subjecting him to flashes of his wife Bianca Censori’s exposed body and a loud intimate moment between Censori and West in the middle of a meeting.

Kanye West has not issued a public response to this lawsuit.

Kanye West And Adidas Have Reportedly Reached An Out-Of-Court Settlement, Following Their Rocky Partnership Split

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The tumultuous two-year long battle between Kanye West (Ye) and Adidas has apparently come to an end.

Back in October 2022, the sporting company split business ties with Ye following antisemitic remarks made by the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” rapper. Today (October 29), the two have wrapped up their legal fight. According to Bloomberg, Ye and Adidas reached an out-of-court settlement.

During a conference call, Adidas’ CEO Bjørn Gulden shared a statement regarding their mutual resolve. “There isn’t any more open issues,” he said. “No one owes anybody anything anymore. So whatever was is history.”

Gulden’s comments about financial payout raised questions among patrons. But Page Six claims Gulden clarified that by saying: “There isn’t any more open issues, and there is no money going [out] either way, and we both move on.”

This is shocking revelations considering the damning financial blowback from their split. At the height of their professional departure it was reported that Adidas was projected to lose over $1 billion in sales. The company also suppsoedly had to recall and store $1 billion worth of Yeezy items while they decided what to do moving forward. Eventually, Adidas came to an agreement to sell the remaining inventory, which quickly cleared half of the pieces off of shelves.

Gulden closed by saying: “There were tensions on many issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side, and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims.”

Kanye West Is Being Sued For His Wife Bianca Censori Allegedly Sending Porn To Employees

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Last month, Kanye West was sued by former employee Lauren Pisciotta for sexual harassment, breach of contract, wrongful termination, and creating a hostile work environment, just a few months after being sued by former employees of his Donda Academy who claimed discrimination based on race and whistleblower retaliation. They say bad news comes in threes, and just like that, Mr. West has been named in another lawsuit by former employees who want damages for unpaid wages, overtime pay, and emotional distress after they say they were emailed porn by West’s “wife,” Bianca Censori.

According to TMZ, these employees were freelance developers hired to create a new music streaming app for Kanye, so that he could release his albums Vultures 1 and 2 without splitting profits with Apple, Spotify, Tidal, and the rest. Through his former(?) chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos (who is also named in the suit), Kanye’s company promised $120,000 to the international group, which included “underage teens as young as 14.” However, in addition to not being paid for their work — shocker — the groups says it was subjected to “forced labor and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment.” Caucasian managers used harassing language to employees, citing age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin; they were referred to as “new slaves,” and bulled into working long hour, resulting in sleep deprivation.

Then, after Kanye announced his short-lived plans to launch a porn company in April, they were tapped to create an app for that, as well. They say Censori emailed hardcore porn to one employee via a file-sharing link accessible to the minors on staff. By May, though, Kanye had seemingly scrapped his plans, and the developers say he stiffed them on the promised pay, despite their delivering at least one completed app. Censori is not named in the suit.

Ye, The Artist Formerly Known As Kanye West, Seems A Bit Peeved That The World Won’t Adhere To His Name Change

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You may know Kanye West as a Grammy Award-winning rapper, chart-topping producer, and clothing designer, but that’s who he “used to be.” From this point forward and in perpetuity, he will hence be referred to as Ye. Well, technically, this isn’t entirely new information, as he legally made the switch back in August 2021.

However, he’s been lax in enforcing it professionally. But that changes today (March 23). In a letter shared by his team (dated February 26), the “Carnival” musician’s chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, made it clear that Ye’s quite peeved that the public won’t adhere to the name change.

“He didn’t take the decision to change his name, potentially sacrificing some of the immense value captured by the brand ‘Kanye West,’ lightly,” he wrote. “The change was made fully, legally, and permanently. This is who he is now. His name is Ye.”

The strongly worded note did not stop there. Later in the document, it touched on America’s history involving chattel slavery. “He has on several occasions referred to it as his slave name,” he wrote. “Ye is a Black man in America who wants the right to full self-determination just like everyone else.”

Read the complete statement below.

YesJulz Called Out Kanye West Staffers ‘Who Don’t Know The Slightest Things About Culture’ In A Response To Her Firing

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Less than a day after being fired from Kanye West’s Yeezy brand, Julieanna Goddard — aka YesJuz — has addressed her sudden removal in such a way that the brand is now apparently reconsidering terminating her contract. To make a long-ish story short, Goddard had been heavily involved in the promotion of Kanye’s Vultures trio of albums, but was accused of violating a non-disclosure agreement by holding a Twitter Spaces to get feedback from fans.

After Yeezy publicly announced her firing — in just about the least professional way possible — Goddard posted a tweet thread on Twitter addressing the firing and calling out Yeezy staff, particularly chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos, for being unqualified for their roles in the company.

“Ye is up against the system. Having the discussion with fans in an open forum setting was unconventional, but it allowed for inclusivity & open visibility for an entire fan base to opt in, give feedback, be heard, connect with one another to combine efforts. Which is what i feel is needed for Ye to stay on top for these next two runs. I was also given specific direction to ‘rally’ the fans, let them each lead their own chapters, activate within their locations- etc. This was MY way of doing so. I am not a conventional woman & this is why i worked at the company i worked at in the first place.”

“I never wanted work done for free. I wanted to help the fans present their work to Ye so that he could hire them instead of stale ass losers who dont know the slightest thing about culture like Ben Priest & Milo Pedofilist to build his company for him. Anyone who has ever been in contact with me for as little as 5 minutes knows the last thing id ever need to steal, is an idea. I’d actually pay to have less as the amount of ideas i have overwhelm me daily.”

She also shared tweets in which she criticized the controversial Yiannopoulos (who has been accused of being, at best, a right-wing troll, and at worst, a literal Nazi) for some unseemly comments he made about Ye’s superfans, providing screenshots for evidence. You can view them here.

She also dared Yeezy to sue her, writing, “F*ck an NDA,” while defending herself from the commonly lobbed “culture vulture” accusations she’s been fielding since at least 2017. After logging off for the night, she apparently received correspondence from Yiannopolous, which she naturally screen shot and posted on Twitter for the world to see. “We are willing to meet and reconsider next steps and your future with YZY as a contractor,” he wrote. Her reply: “As soon as Yeezy is free of pedophilic, sexist, homophobic, racists, I will be more than happy to speak to Ye directly about being a part of the team. Obviously, this means you’d need to quit or be fired.”

Sheesh. When YesJulz gets one up on you, you might be cooked. Don’t clap too hard for her though. As she pointed out in her tweetstorm last night, she’s worked for Kanye since 2018 — meaning after the Trump stuff, through the antisemitism kerfuffle, while he bullied and harassed his ex-wife and her family, and through two separate stints of Yiannopoulos as “chief of staff” of Yeezy (whatever the hell that’s supposed to be). Her high horse has no shoes and it damn sure can’t run. Again, none of these people is the “good guy” here, and the best “next steps” would be for them all to quietly retire from public life and go be Walmart greeters or something.

Why Was YesJulz Fired And ‘Fined’ $7.7 Million By Kanye West’s Yeezy?

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Late yesterday afternoon, Kanye West publicly cut ties with party promoter and influencer Julieanna Marie Goddard, better known as YesJulz, saying she owes over $7 million to the Yeezy group for violating a non-disclosure agreement. On his Instagram Story, Kanye reportedly wrote, “We have decided to no longer have YesJulz involved in the roll out of Vultures. All the activity on her page and with our fans in the past few days has been unauthorized.”

Several Yeezy fan accounts also posted screenshots of an email purported to be from Yeezy “chief of staff” Milo Yiannopolous to Goddard. “Dear Ms. Goddard, enclosed please find a letter and statement of account from your time with Yeezy,” it reads. “Fines incurred to date as a result of your NDA violations come to $7.7m. While you were a contractor, I suspended enforcement of this debt. It now falls due. Hassan from the compliance team will reach out with information about payment. Please not that any further violations will accrue more fine. Because you are being terminated for cause but also because you forgot to sign your contract your termination is effective immediately.”

Uproxx generally doesn’t engage in schadenfreude as a rule, and we won’t do so now. But this is so messy. None of this is how a professional organization should behave and even writing this give me, as the kids would say, “the ick.” One of my very first pieces for this site was a critique of Julz for her weird cultural voyeurism and not only was she never held to account for it, the grasping, clout chasing, social climbing she did paid off in a job working for one of the biggest artists in hip-hop, who should have known better, but has been printing t-shirts that read “White Lives Matter” and putting white supremacists in charge of his hiring.

Oh, did I forget to mention Yiannopolous is a virulent, right-wing troll who has been ripped by multiple outlets for pushing hate speech? Yeah. Kanye hired him last year to replace another racist outrage peddler, Nick Fuentes, as his “campaign manager” — after previously firing him in 2022. You gotta give the sourpuss credit, though; usually, when white folks do the “my best friend is Black” thing, their Black best friend isn’t the guy who made “Jesus Walks.”

There is no real “win” here for anyone. It’s sad that Kanye has become this, it’s sad that people are still dealing with Kanye after everything he’s done to destroy his reputation, it’s sad people in hip-hop are still working with YesJulz in 2024, it’s sad that nobody at Yeezy has any concept of professionalism (and that they think this supposed “NDA” is remotely enforceable), and it’s sad that we haven’t agreed as a society to completely ostracize creeps like Yiannopoulos and Fuentes because they only pick on people who’ve historically been oppressed all along. I’m hitting “publish” and taking a very long, very hot shower. Yuck.

Report: Touring Giants Live Nation and AEG Decline Kanye West for a Tour

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Kanye West hoped to take his Vultures album with Ty Dolla $ign on the road. Unfortunately for him, Live Nation and AEG won’t assist.

According to Hits Daily Double, insiders state neither touring company will move forward with requests on a Ye tour that is being pitched by his agent Cara Lewis. The decision comes despite Ye moving over 10,000 tickets for his events, like the one in Chicago.

It is noted that Chicago companies Jam Productions and SPKRBX collaborated on the United Center booking days before the release.

Ye and Ty Dolla $ign are being sued by the Donna Summer estate for using the icon’s “I Feel Love” in the creation of “Good (Don’t Die).”

The suit is led by Summer’s husband, Bruce Sandano, stating the interpolation was not approved due to Ye’s “controversial history.”

Ye submitted a request for clearance, but it was denied on Feb. 3, 2024, in both written and phone communications. The song was submitted for clearance at Universal Music Enterprises as an alternative but was once again denied.

The estate is now seeking damages of $150,000 for each infringement.

Earlier this week, after Adidas announced a new stock drop of Yeezy sneakers at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

The post Report: Touring Giants Live Nation and AEG Decline Kanye West for a Tour first appeared on The Source.

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WATCH: Kanye West’s Paris Fans Chant ‘F*** Adidas’

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Kanye West and Bianca Censori are currently in France for Paris Fashion Week. While leaving The Ritz on Wednesday, the adoring crowd outside supported Ye, chanting “F*ck Adidas.”

During the moment, Ye riled up the crowd to be louder and even signed an autograph.

You can see the moment below.

Kanye West is not here for the sale of the new Yeezys. After the brand announced a new stock drop at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message, stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

According to Complex, Adidas announced the remaining release of its Yeezy stock on Feb. 29. The “Steel Grey” Yeezy Boost 350 V2 will be available for $230 by using the Confirmed app, Adidas app, or Adidas.com.

Adidas also teased additional sneakers, showing an image with silhouettes of the Yeezy Foam Runner, the Yeezy 500, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, and the Yeezy Slides.

Meanwhile, Kanye West delivered a message to fans to not buy them. “Anybody who loves Ye would not buy these fake Yeezys [.] I never made these color ways [.] I’m not getting paid off of them and adidas is suing me.”

You can see his full statement below.

In Sept. 2023, Ye received words of support from Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. In an interview, Gulden stated he doesn’t believe Kanye West is a bad person.

“And then as creative people he did some statements which wasn’t that good,” Gulden said. “And that caused Adi to break the contract and withdraw the product. Very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person it just came across that way.

“That meant we lost that business. One of the most successful collabs in history — very said. But again, when you work with third parties that can happen. It’s part of the game.”

Adidas reports a revenue of $437 million in the first release of leftover Yeezy sneakers from their nixed deal with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The first run of shoes hit online in June, selling out. The second run began to sell on Wednesday.

The sale of the sneakers was the efforts to empty their inventory responsibly. After the first launch, CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,”

Adidas has also announced the donation of over 10 million euros to groups like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

According to Billboard, 20% to 25% of the stock was unloaded in the first sale.

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Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement

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Another day, another lawsuit for Kanye West. Ye and his Vultures partner, Ty Dolla $ign, are being sued by the Donna Summer estate for using the icon’s “I Feel Love” in the creation of “Good (Don’t Die).”

The suit is led by Summer’s husband, Bruce Sandano, stating the interpolation was not approved due to Ye’s “controversial history.”

Ye submitted a request for clearance, but it was denied on Feb. 3, 2024, in both written and phone communications. The song was submitted for clearance at Universal Music Enterprises as an alternative but was once again denied.

The estate is now seeking damages of $150,000 for each infringement.

Earlier this week, after Adidas announced a new stock drop of Yeezy sneakers at the end of the month, Kanye hit the net with a message stating he was sued.

“Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are not approved, they are suing me for $250 million,” Ye said. “And they also not paying me for these shoes they are putting out that has my name on it.

“They are using contract clauses and 50 years of business experience to rape an artist – one of y’all favorite artists – right in front of y’all in broad daylight.”

The post Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement first appeared on The Source.

The post Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign Sued by Donna Summer Estate for Copyright Infringement appeared first on The Source.