Kanye West sued by former assistant over sexual harassment claims
Kanye West’s former assistant is suing the disgraced rapper and fashion mogul for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Lauren Pisciotta claimed that she was hired as West’s “Executive Assistant/Personal Assistant” in 2021 with an annual salary of $1m (£781,450), on the condition that she was available to him “24-7”, which she accepted, according to court documents obtained by US media outlets.
Pisciotta said that she had worked in the music industry for 15 years prior to this and collaborated with West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, on season one of his Yeezy women’s fashion line. She alleges that she also contributed towards three songs on his album Donda, which was released that same year.
In the lawsuit, Pisciotta claimed she was also making an additional $1m from OnlyFans, the subscriber platform that hosts predominantly adult content.
However, West allegedly asked her to be more “God Like” and delete her account in 2022 in exchange for $1m. Pisciotta claimed that he then bombarded her with explicit messages and, in one incident, masturbated in front of her.
Per the filing reported by Rolling Stone, West allegedly wrote in one text message: “See my problem is I be wanting to f*** but then after I f*** I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f****ed while I’m f****ing them,” before adding: “Then I want her to cheat on me.”
Pisciotta claimed that West would also call her under the guise of discussing work-related matters only then to masturbate while on the phone with her.
Another incident allegedly saw West lock Pisciotta in a room with him during a flight to Paris, claiming that he needed to talk to her, before lying down on his bed and masturbating under the covers until he fell asleep while she sat in a chair across from him.
Pisciotta said in the lawsuit that she was promoted to Chief of Staff for West’s various companies around September 2022 and that she was told that she would receive an additional $3m (£2.3m). However, the following month, she claimed that she was fired and offered a $3m severance package, which she did not receive.
She is suing West for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination, and is also suing West and his affiliated Yeezy companies for fraud, unpaid wages, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The Independent has contacted West’s representative for comment.
In 2022, the Vultures rapper was accused of sharing an explicit image of his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, with Adidas employees during a job interview while he was still married to the reality TV star.
An investigation by Rolling Stone also reported that Ye allegedly showed an explicit video of Kardashian, as well as sex tapes he made of himself with other women, to several Adidas co-workers.
The claims were made in an open letter by “prominent former members of the Yeezy team”, which also alleged that Adidas bosses were aware of the musician’s “problematic behaviour” but failed to intervene because they had “turned their moral compass off”.
A spokesperson for Adidas said at the time: “Adidas does not tolerate hate speech and offensive behaviour and therefore has terminated the Adidas Yeezy partnership.
“We have been and continue to be actively engaged in conversations with our employees about the events that lead [sic] to our decision to end the partnership. They have our full support and as we’re working through the details of the termination, we have been clear that we want to keep our employees’ talent and skills within the organisation.”
