Kanye West, now often called Ye, is going through new allegations from his former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, who beforehand sued him in June for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
In an amended criticism filed on Oct. 8 and obtained by a number of retailers, Pisciotta, who labored for West from 2021 to 2022, claims that the rapper drugged and sexually assaulted her throughout a studio session co-hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs, who’s going through separate intercourse trafficking and racketeering expenses, is known as in Pisciotta’s criticism however isn’t accused of wrongdoing in her case.
West’s representatives haven’t responded to Yahoo Leisure’s requests for remark.
These newest accusations add to a rising checklist of authorized troubles the rapper has confronted in recent times. Here is what we all know to date concerning the new allegations — and a abstract of a number of the different lawsuits the rapper is at present going through.
👀 The newest allegations
In line with the amended lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Pisciotta alleges that she and her former artist administration consumer, who’s unnamed within the lawsuit, had been invited to a studio session hosted by West and Combs in Santa Monica, Calif.
The criticism doesn’t specify when, precisely, this alleged gathering passed off. In the course of the session, Pisciotta alleges that “drinks had been served to her and others in attendance” and that it was introduced that “everyone needed to drink, in the event that they wished to remain,” based on the criticism.
Upon ingesting, Pisciotta alleges within the criticism that she “all of a sudden began to really feel disoriented” and felt “much less answerable for her physique and speech.” She wakened the following morning with little recollection of what occurred, “feeling bodily unwell and confused.”
For years, Pisciotta believed she had been drugged and embarrassed herself at a piece occasion. Years later, nonetheless, the lawsuit alleges that West introduced up that evening, admitting that they “did type of hook up” that night.
Pisciotta claims that their dialog led her to understand that she had been sexually assaulted by West whereas she was incapacitated that evening on the studio session. She determined to stop working for the rapper, however based on the criticism, she needed to be “extraordinarily cautious” in her strategy, fearing she could be “silenced, blacklisted and retaliated towards” by West and others within the music trade. Pisciotta was reportedly fired shortly thereafter.
The previous assistant didn’t accuse Combs of any wrongdoing within the criticism, although he’s now going through unrelated expenses, together with intercourse trafficking and racketeering.
🧑⚖️ The prior lawsuit
In Pisciotta’s preliminary lawsuit, she claimed that West employed her in July 2021 as an government assistant with a promised $1 million wage, requiring her to be on name 24/7. Pisciotta had beforehand labored on the rapper’s Yeezy Season 1 girls’s trend line, in 2015, and his 2021 album Donda.
The yr earlier than West employed her, Pisciotta claimed she’d earned $1 million creating content material on OnlyFans and social media posts, which West supported. By August 2022, nonetheless, he allegedly requested her to delete the account in change for $1 million — a promise Pisciotta stated he by no means saved.
Pisciotta claimed that West promoted her to his chief of workers in September 2022, with a proposal of a $3 million bonus. She was fired the next month and claims that she was by no means paid.
She is now suing for sexual harassment, breach of contract, wrongful termination and making a hostile work surroundings, searching for not less than $4 million in damages.
📲 Vulgar texts and intimate pictures
Pisciotta’s lawsuit alleges that West despatched vulgar texts, together with graphic sexual fantasies, in addition to intimate pictures of different female and male Yeezy workers.
“See my downside is I be desirous to f*** however then after I f*** I desire a lady to inform me how arduous they been f***ed whereas I’m f***ing them. Then I would like her to cheat on me,” one of many purported messages learn, based on Web page Six.
Pisciotta additional claims that West despatched her snapshots and movies of himself having intercourse with fashions in addition to masturbating throughout cellphone calls together with her and on a flight to Paris, based on Rolling Stone. Pisciotta additionally accuses West of getting an “obsession” together with her, allegedly transferring into her constructing and stalking her after her termination. She additionally stated he turned offended when she rejected his advances so far or have intercourse.
❌ West calls the allegations ‘baseless’
Whereas West hasn’t but responded publicly to Pisciotta’s amended criticism, his attorneys beforehand slammed her preliminary allegations as “baseless,” telling Web page Six in June that the mannequin pursued West “sexually to coerce employment and different materials advantages.”
His attorneys additional claimed that Pisciotta blackmailed the rapper when “her advances had been rejected,” accusing her of stealing his cellphone to “destroy cellphone information that may contradict her claims.”
“Such conduct is completely inconsistent with somebody who claims to have been sexually harassed or skilled a hostile work surroundings,” West’s attorneys acknowledged to the Los Angeles Occasions. “It’s evident that Ms. Pisciotta leveraged her affiliation with Ye and his firm, and her proximity to him, to hunt materials positive aspects, clout, and employment by way of inappropriate means.”
The assertion added: “Her preliminary try at a lawsuit for illegal termination gained no media traction, main her to manufacture headlines following threats of blackmail and extortion.”
⚖️ A abstract of West’s different authorized troubles
West’s authorized staff has been busy managing a collection of lawsuits during the last couple of years. They embrace:
April 2024: Benjamin Deshon Pravo, a safety guard for Donda Academy, an unaccredited Christian non-public college based by West in 2022, sued for racial discrimination, claiming the rapper favored white workers and fired him for refusing to chop his dreadlocks. That very same month, Trevor Phillips, a former Donda Academy and Yeezy worker, sued for West’s alleged discriminatory and antisemitic conduct.
February 2024: West claimed Adidas was suing him for $250 million, although no public lawsuit surfaced. Adidas filed a personal arbitration case over his public offensive statements, alleging breach of their partnership.
September 2023: Tony Saxon, a former caretaker and safety guard at West’s Malibu mansion, sued for $1 million, alleging harmful work situations and unpaid wages.
June 2023: Paparazzo Nichol Lechmanik sued West for throwing her cellphone into site visitors, claiming assault, battery and negligence.
Could 2023: Hole Inc. sued West for $2 million over the termination of their Yeezy partnership, accusing West of failing to satisfy contractual obligations.
April 2023: Lecturers Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers sued Donda Academy, alleging well being, security, and academic violations. They claimed the college failed to offer important providers and cling to state laws. A 3rd instructor, Timanii Meeks, later joined the go well with.
Learn extra: A breakdown of the various lawsuits West is going through.
