Kanye West is taking steps to handle various legal disputes after being accused of months of dragging his feet or blowing off cases entirely, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Ye, 47, agreed to be grilled under oath as part of the lawsuit brought by a former employee of his Donda academy, Benjamin Deshon Provo.
Benjamin worked as a security guard at Ye’s school in April 2021.
He claimed he was subjected to discrimination, retaliation, violation of labor codes, wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
As In Touch first reported, since November, Benjamin has been pleading with the court to force Ye to provide dates he was available for a deposition.
Benjamin claimed Ye had failed to appear for his properly noticed deposition and refused to provide alternative dates.
In his lawsuit, Benjamin claimed Ye “frequently” yelled at him while at work. “Kanye and members of his management team subjected [Benjamin] and other Black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts,” the ex-employee alleged in his lawsuit.
The lawsuit continued, “Specifically, [Ye] frequently screamed at and berated Black employees, while in contrast, he never so much as raised his tone of voice toward white staff.”
Benjamin also accused Ye of targeting him due to him having dreads. The suit claimed, “at the direction of [Ye], [Benjamin] was given the ultimatum, cut his hair, or be fired.”
Benjamin claimed he refused and was fired. The ex-employee also claimed Ye banned books by Black leaders, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., at Donda.
Ye denied all allegations of wrongdoing. He denied he had authorized or directed any alleged wrongful behavior. He asked that Benjamin’s lawsuit be dismissed and the ex-employee be responsible for the legal bills he racks up defending himself.
Recently, Ye hired a new lawyer named Eduardo Martorell.
His new lawyer filed a motion opposing Benjamin’s motion to compel Ye’s deposition. He explained that he had a conversation with Benjamin’s lawyer and they agreed to a date for Ye to be deposed.
Per the filing, Ye will appear on April 29 to answer questions from Benjamin’s lawyers.
On top of that, Ye’s new lawyer appeared at a hearing in the $2 million legal battle filed by the musician’s former business partners at The Gap.
Back in 2022, a company called Art City sued The Gap over unauthorized changes to a commercial building in Downtown Los Angeles that it had leased to The Gap.
The Gap countersued Ye claiming it had leased the building for Ye, as part of a now-terminated partnership between the two, and Ye had made the changes without their approval. Art City sued The Gap for $800,000. Ye denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The Gap sued Ye for $2 million in damages. For months, The Gap claimed it had been unable to get Ye to appear to sit for a deposition.
At the recent hearing, the judge presiding over the case issued a tentative ruling.
Per the tentative order, Ye’s new lawyer told The Gap that he was still trying “to get feedback from the internals.”
The judge decided to grant The Gap’s motion and ordered Ye to be deposed as part of the case.
For his part, Ye has been keeping a low profile. He was spotted earlier this week with his wife, Bianca Censori, at an airport in Tokyo.
