Kanye West slams 'baseless' sexual harassment allegations detailed in ex-assistant's lawsuit
Embattled rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, whose Donda Academy was sued in April for workplace abuses, is facing a slew of disturbing new allegations. This time the lawsuit comes from a woman claiming she was his personal assistant.
Lauren Pisciotta, an Instagram and OnlyFans model, said she worked for the "Famous" rap star, 46, from July 2021 to October 2022. She alleges she was subjected to multiple forms of sexual harassment and fleeced out of a "promised" $4-million salary for her work on various Yeezy brands, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times.
Read more: Kanye West sued by former Donda Academy employee claiming workplace abuses
The lawsuit, filed Monday by Pisciotta's attorney in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses his businesses of wrongful termination, gender discrimination, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional and physical stress, among other misconduct.
A legal representative for West told The Times in a statement that the rapper intends to filed a counterclaim against Pisciotta over her "baseless allegations." The rep also accused Pisciotta of coercion, blackmail and extortion.
Pisciotta's attorney did not respond immediately to The Times' request for comment.
The complaint describes Pisciotta, 35, as a music industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience in management, A&R and marketing. Before accepting a $1-million annual salary to be Ye's full-time personal assistant in July 2021, she worked with the rapper on his Yeezy clothing line and 2021 album "Donda."
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Pisciotta's lawsuit accuses Ye of "masturbating in front of Plaintiff" and "over-sharing intimate sexual details, photos and videos of sex acts," some of which allegedly involved Instagram models and "current and former Yeezy, LLC employees and various men and women." In November 2022, a Rolling Stone report detailed similar allegations that the Grammy winner had "played pornography to Yeezy staff in meetings."
The 25-page complaint details multiple alleged instances of "nonconsenual, offensive, unwanted, unsolicited and unwelcomed unlawful acts" by Ye, including explicit text exchanges where he discusses sexual fantasies and requests that Pisciotta obtain and carry sexual-enhancement drugs for his convenience. In one alleged exchange, Ye messaged Pisciotta to ask whether his genitals were "racist."
"This f— racist d— of mine ... needs to be beaten till it can't be racist no more," read a text from Ye, the lawsuit said. "This ain't right bro after 400 years."
Several pages of the lawsuit also detail the sexual memes, photos of naked models, videos of women performing oral sex on Ye and videos of his sexual encounters that the rapper allegedly sent to Pisciotta. The Instagram model also alleges Ye propositioned her for sex multiple times during her tenure (she denied his advances), "would masturbate" during phone conversations she thought were business calls and was "particularly fixated on the penis size" of her current and past romantic partners.
Read more: Kanye West sued by former Donda Academy employee claiming workplace abuses
The suit says Pisciotta did not "welcome or encourage" Ye's "offensive, demeaning, embarrassing and abuse behavior" and was focused on carrying out her duties as a personal assistant in a manner "as professional as possible."
The later portion of Pisciotta's lawsuit alleges that the employees of Ye's Yeezy brands — listed as co-defendants — "engaged in a systematic, severe and persuasive and offensive campaign of unlawful harassment based on [Pisciotta's] sex, including sexual harassment."
More than a year after starting as West's personal assistant, in September 2022, Pisciotta was offered a promotion to Yeezy's chief of staff, the lawsuit says. With that change in title also came the promise of a $3-million raise — bringing Pisciotta's total annual salary to $4 million. After accepting the offer, Pisciotta was told in October 2022 that she would receive the $3-million raise in a lump sum, but "defendant, however, did not pay ... as promised" after multiple attempts to collect, she alleges. In late October, West and his businesses fired Pisciotta — a reason was not disclosed in the lawsuit — and she was offered $3 million in severance. Then they allegedly "reneged on their commitment to pay the severance."
After she parted ways with the Yeezy brands, Pisciotta said West's "obsession" with her persisted, and she alleged he moved into the building where she lived. Shortly after her termination, Pisciotta returned to West and his businesses to provide "additional services," again with the prospect of getting paid, but allegedly never received payment.
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"As a result of defendant's breach of agreements, plaintiff has been damaged in the sum of at least $4,000,000," the lawsuit said.
Pisciotta alleges that because of West and his business' retaliation, she "suffered and continues to suffer damages" in the form of lost wages and employment benefits and emotional and physical distress. The lawsuit said Pisciotta filed a complaint last week with California's Civil Rights Department accusing Yeezy brands of "discrimination, harassment, retaliation" and other employment violations. She is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, legal fees and "such other and further relief the court may deem proper."
The statement from West's legal representative also accused Pisciotta of stealing the rapper's phone to "destroy phone records" in order to benefit her claims and said she was terminated for "being unqualified, demanding unreasonable sums of money (including a $4 million annual salary) and numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct."
The rapper also accused Pisciotta of sending Ye "unsolicited nude images" as sexual coercion to demand material items including a luxury bag and a Lamborghini.
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"Such behavior is entirely inconsistent with someone who claims to be have been sexually harassed or experienced a hostile work environment," the statement continued. "It is evident that Ms. Pisciotta leveraged her association with Ye and his company, and her proximity to him, to seek material gains, clout, and employment through inappropriate means."
The statement added, "Her initial attempt at a lawsuit for unlawful termination gained no media traction, leading her to fabricate headlines following threats of blackmail and extortion.”
The latest of Ye's legal troubles comes after he quickly fell out of public favor in late 2022 for his antisemitic rants. Amid his controversial tirades, several businesses including agency CAA, Gap and Adidas cut ties with the rapper.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.