Kanye West is facing legal trouble with a new lawsuit accusing him and former chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos of creating a hostile work environment and failing to compensate employees adequately. Filed in a US district court, the lawsuit claims West referred to his workers as “new slaves” while allegedly subjecting them to exploitative conditions.
The legal action alleges that West intended to launch an app called ‘YZYVSN’ to promote his music, bypassing fees to platforms like Tidal and Spotify. To execute this plan, West purportedly hired a group of developers, including minors as young as 14, under circumstances described as “forced labor” with inadequate pay and harsh working conditions.
According to TMZ, the lawsuit details how West’s management team, largely comprised of white individuals, allegedly used derogatory language targeting workers’ age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin in internal communications. Yiannopoulos is further accused of exacerbating the toxic environment by sending inappropriate messages and racially insensitive emojis to staff.
In a separate allegation, West’s wife, Bianca Censori, reportedly sent explicit material accessible to minors around the time West announced the launch of his adult film company, Yeezy Porn, in April. Censori is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The legal filing claims that employees were promised $120,000 upon completion of the app but were allegedly coerced into signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) under threat of job loss and withheld pay. Minor employees were purportedly misled into signing misleading “volunteer” agreements.
Despite completing the app by May 1, West and Yiannopoulos allegedly failed to compensate the developers, prompting the lawsuit seeking damages for unpaid wages, overtime, and emotional distress.
West and Yiannopoulos have not responded to requests for comment on the allegations. This lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges against West, including recent claims of sexual harassment and racial discrimination by former employees.
For updates on this developing story and West’s legal responses, stay tuned for further details as the case unfolds.
