After being accused of sexual harassment in early June by his former assistant, the American rapper is being sued by eight former employees, who are denouncing degrading working conditions, against a backdrop of racism and unpaid wages.
Accustomed to escapades and provocations, American rapper Kanye West finds himself once again in trouble with the law. After being accused of sexual harassment by his former assistant on June 3, Kim Kardashian’s ex is now being sued by eight former employees for “forced labor” and “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” as reported by the Hollywood Reporter A complaint was filed this weekend in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit concerns working conditions at Yeezy LLC, Kanye West’s company that hired developers to create a streaming service called YZYVSN. According to the lawsuit, the eight people hired were subjected to racist and degrading comments. The rapper’s former business partner, Milo Yiannopoulos, who is also a British far-right commentator, is also named in the lawsuit.
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“Some team members were called ‘slaves’ while another focus group referred to team members as ‘new slaves,’” The Hollywood Reporter reports. According to the complaint, developers on the team were also allegedly bullied based on their race, gender, age, sexual orientation “and more.”
In early April, the team was also promised $120,000 in salaries if they “completed the application,” but were allegedly forced to sign nondisclosure agreements and threatened with termination without pay if they refused, the complaint states.
Child workers exposed to pornography
In addition to these already serious allegations, some employees claim to have been subjected to pornographic images in the workplace. Kanye West’s wife, Bianca Censori, allegedly “sent a file-sharing link to hard-core pornography to a group of YZYVSN employees,” the complaint states. Among them was a 14-year-old minor.
“There were no safeguards in place to prevent YZYVSN’s underage workers from working on Yeezy Porn, or to prevent them from being exposed and forced to watch pornography to do their jobs,” she continued. While the rapper has yet to respond, his associate has called it a “joke.” Bianca Censori has denied sending the link. The victims are seeking payment of unpaid wages, damages for “emotional distress,” and legal fees.
