Ye, the rapper previously referred to as Kanye West, has been sued by an ex-employee who accused the musician of threatening to construct a jail for college kids at his Christian personal faculty, the place Ye allegedly stated he would shave youngsters’s heads and lock them in cages.
The lawsuit, filed by ex-employee Trevor Phillips within the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, has accused Ye of discrimination, making a hostile work surroundings, worker retaliation and unsafe working situations.
Among a litany of scandalous allegations, Phillips additionally accused Ye of constructing quite a few racist, antisemitic and homophobic remarks within the office, both at Donda Academy or at his trend model, Yeezy.
Ye and spokespersons for Donda Academy and Yeezy, which have additionally been sued, haven’t commented publicly concerning the allegations.
Phillips is looking for US$35,000 (about C$47,335) in damages.
According to the lawsuit, obtained by the New York Times, Phillips was employed in November 2022 to supervise a cotton-growing initiative at Yeezy to make the model “self-sustainable.” He was later moved to work at Donda Academy, Ye’s controversial personal faculty positioned in Southern California.
While employed on the unaccredited faculty, Phillips stated Ye advised two unnamed college students that “he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages.”
Phillips’ lawsuit says workers members escorted the youngsters away from Ye.
The ex-employee claimed Donda Academy workers members have been additionally requested to carry out harmful electrical and renovation work on faculty grounds with out permits or expertise.
Around the time of Phillips’ preliminary hiring in 2022, Ye was already garnering a popularity as a public antisemite and subsequently misplaced a number of giant model partnerships and alternatives.
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In his lawsuit, Phillips alleges Ye’s surprising rants weren’t unique to public interviews and social media.
Phillips claimed Ye made quite a few antisemitic feedback throughout conferences with Donda Academy staff, together with “the Jews are out to get me” and “the Jews are stealing all my money.”
When Adidas pulled out from its worthwhile partnership with Ye in 2022, Phillips stated Ye advised him, “the Jews are working with Adidas to freeze up my money to try and make me broke!”
During an alleged separate dialog with staff on the Nobu Hotel in Malibu, Calif., Phillips stated Ye referred to as the holocaust “fake.” He reportedly additionally referred to as Adolf Hitler “great” and heralded the dictator of Nazi Germany as an “innovator” who “invented so many things.”
In the identical assembly from the Nobu Hotel, Ye allegedly expressed outrage towards 2SLGBTQIA+folks. According to the lawsuit, Ye advised his staff he could be “going for the gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the gays.”
Ye allegedly advised his staff that homosexual folks “are not true Christians” and that they’re subdued by “Bill Gates so that they don’t have children for population control.”
The lawsuit continues, claiming that on a separate event, Ye texted Phillips to say, “I am on some complete Hitler level stuff.” Ye added, “Minus the gas chambers.”
Phillips additionally alleges Ye handled Black staff at Donda Academy “considerably worse” than white staff.
According to the lawsuit, when Phillips’ pushed again on Ye’s “bigotry and instructions to violate the law,” Phillips was met with “incessant harassment, humiliation, and attempts to both mentally control and destroy Phillips,” in addition to threats of bodily violence from Ye.
Phillips stated he was typically employed and fired by Ye at random.
In December, forward of the discharge of his collaborative album Vultures 1 with Ty Dolla Sign, Ye posted a public apology to “the Jewish community” on social media.
“It was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused,” Ye wrote in Hebrew. “I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
The apology submit has since been deleted from Ye’s social media account.
Vultures 1, launched Feb. 10, grew to become Ye’s eleventh No. 1 album.
In October 2022, Donda Academy reportedly notified mother and father of scholars concerning the faculty’s instant closure.
Ye established the college — named after his late mom, Donda West — in August 2021 in Simi Valley, Calif., for college kids in kindergarten by to Grade 12. The Donda Academy web site, which is not lively, claimed college students discovered academic fundamentals and Christian teachings. Daily classes included full faculty worship, language arts, math and science, and enrichment programs together with world language, visible artwork, movie, choir and even parkour.
The working standing of Donda Academy is at the moment unclear, although the lawsuit claims Phillips left his job at Donda Academy in August when the college shut down.
Two former academics at Donda Academy have already sued Ye over claims of wrongful termination. Like Phillips’ lawsuit, the 2023 submitting makes a number of unusual claims concerning the faculty, together with a scholar lunch menu that featured solely sushi.
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