Kanye West’s ex-employees detailed the alleged inhumane treatment they experienced while working for the entertainer as they demand over $2 million in damages, In Touch can exclusively report.
In Touch obtained the declarations filed by Shemar Dacosta, Pholoso Mofokeng, Miles Jackson-Lea, Olakunle Olatunji, a minor child with the initial R.M. and three other minor children, who all sued Ye, 47, Yeezy LLC and Ye’s former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos.
The minors suing range from 14 to 17. In the shocking lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed they were hired to develop a music streaming app for Ye, which he planned to use to promote the release of his album Vultures 2.
The former employees claimed their time working for Ye and his team was horrible.
Many of them said they were subjected to bullying, often based on sexual orientation or ethnicity, forced labor and exposed to explicit material.
“No guardrails were put in place to prevent the underaged [workers] from working on Yeezy Porn, or to prevent them from being exposed to and being forced to view pornography to perform their work,” the workers’ lawyer alleged.
The suit claimed some of the employees were called “new slaves” at work. The lawsuit demanded over $2.4 million in damages from the defendants.
As In Touch first reported last month, Yeezy denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
A lawyer for the company argued, “The Complaint relies on conclusory allegations and seeks to impute liability to Yeezy LLC for conduct allegedly committed by other individuals or entities, without establishing a factual or legal basis for doing so.”
Yeezy’s lawyer continued, “It appears that plaintiffs are attempting to tie Yeezy LLC to the alleged conduct of other defendants or third parties using legal theories such as agency or vicarious liability, but the complaint fails to plead sufficient factual content to support those theories.”
“Defendant alleges that Plaintiffs consented to the conditions and terms of work, barring certain claims,” the lawyer added.
Ye and Milo, 40, have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
In the declarations obtained by In Touch, minor D.P., who was 14 when he worked for Ye’s company, said he faced “constant harassment and bullying from adult team members because” of his age.
He claimed they frequently “mocked and demeaned” him “where derogatory comments and jokes were directed at” him and others. He said a photoshopped image of a baby with a beard was passed around as a mean to mock him, the declaration alleged. The minor said he witnessed racial slurs and was exposed to inappropriate material, “which was both disturbing and inappropriate for a minor.”
On top of that, he claimed he wasn’t properly paid for his work and he was pressured to sign a non-disclosure agreement under the “threat that” he would not be paid.
Another ex-employee Miles Jackson-Lea said the environment created by leadership with “cult-like, fostering a fear and anxiety among team members” and “highly stressful and disorganized.”
He said one boss named the group chat “slaves” and referred to black members of the team as such. “The stressful workplace conditions and financial exploitation caused me significant emotional and psychological harm,” Miles claimed.
Another minor, 17-year-old K.S., said he saw racial slurs and discriminatory comments made. Milo spoke out about the claims after the suit became public. He denied all claims of wrongdoing.
Milo also said he was authorized to speak on behalf of Ye’s wife, Bianca Censori, who was accused of sharing the explicit material in question with the employees. Milo said Bianca called the allegations “offensive, disgusting, abhorrent and wholly false.”
Milo denied the claim the men were exposed to inappropriate material. The case is ongoing.
