Kanye West lawsuit alleges he tormented Jewish employee, called himself Hitler
'We need to stop excusing Ye's behaviour,' says plaintiff's lawyer
WARNING: This story contains antisemitic language.
First, he went on a days-long antisemitic social media rant. Then, he tried to sell swastika T-shirts on his website.
And that's just what musician and fashion designer Kanye West has been up to in the last week, never mind the last several years of controversial statements and behaviour.
But now, West, who also goes by Ye, is being sued by a former employee who says he tormented her for being Jewish, and her lawyer says enough is enough.
"We need to stop excusing Ye's behaviour. As a father, husband and employer, he must be held accountable," Carney Shegerian, of L.A.-based Shegerian & Associates, told CBC News in a written statement.
"Ye waged a relentless and deliberate campaign of antisemitism and misogyny against my client. His appalling treatment of women and fixation on Nazism, evident in abusive texts where he repeatedly calls himself Hitler, expose his motives," Shegerian added.
The employee, listed only as "Jane Doe" due to additional allegations of sexual harassment, filed a complaint against Ye and his company Yeezy in California's Superior Court on Tuesday. In the court documents obtained by CBC News, she accuses Ye and Yeezy of discrimination, harassment and retaliation on account of her sex and Jewish religion.
According to the complaint, Ye "carried out a calculated campaign to threaten and psychologically torment Jewish people around him," but specifically Jane Doe.
She alleges that on different occasions, he referred to himself as Hitler, said "hail Hitler," and directly threatened her on account of her Jewish heritage.
According to the complaint, Jane Doe was terminated shortly after she complained to her supervisor about Ye's conduct.
"He is a bully with tens of millions of followers on social media, with children and adults who watch and listen to him," Jane Doe's lawyers wrote in the complaint, referring to Ye's upcoming album, titled Bully.
"He uses his social media platforms to bully anyone who disagrees with him, spew hate speech only to disingenuously apologize for it repeatedly when he wants to promote his music, concerts or merchandise," the complaint continued.
CBC News has reached out to Ye's legal counsel. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Documents show text messages
Doe was hired in December 2023 as a marketing specialist for Ye and Yeezy, according to the complaint. The next month, after his album Vultures with Ty Dolla Sign was accused of antisemitic lyrics and cover art, Doe allegedly suggested to a co-worker that Ye issue a statement condemning ties to Nazism.
The co-worker relayed that message to Ye, and according to a text message shown in the court document, Ye responded, "I am a Nazi." In other text messages shown in the complaint, Ye allegedly texted, "Welcome to the first day of working for Hitler" to Doe and several other Jewish employees in a group chat.
Other text messages purported to be from Ye include statements insulting Jane Doe's appearance and genitals, calling her trash and saying "hail Hitler." He also made a threatening reference to a previous tweet where he incited violence against Jewish people, and said, "now sue me, you corny a-- b-tch," according to the text messages shown in the complaint.
According to the complaint, Doe complained to her supervisor on June 4, 2024, and was terminated on June 5. She's seeking damages against Ye for economic, compensatory, emotional distress and humiliation, and punitive damages.
"Ye dared my client to sue, and we will see him in court," Shegerian said in his statement to CBC News.
Dropped by his talent agent
On Monday, talent agency 33&West confirmed it was no longer representing Ye "due to his recent harmful and hateful remarks," multiple media outlets have reported.
Since last Thursday, he had been blasting his 34 million social media followers on X with a series of antisemitic, misogynistic and racist posts. By Sunday afternoon, X owner Elon Musk had unfollowed Ye and said his account was now classified "NSFW" (not safe for work). A few hours later, Ye said his goodbyes, and then his account went dark.
On Tuesday, Shopify, the Ottawa-headquartered e-commerce platform, took down Ye's merchandise website Yeezy.com, which had been selling a $30 T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika since the weekend.
Ye has a long history of offensive and antisemitic comments, including repeated praise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. He lost his lucrative partnership with Adidas in 2022 over his remarks, and was previously locked out of Twitter (now X) and Instagram in 2022 for antisemitic posts.
His behaviour has been back in the public eye since last week. First, for his appearance at the Grammys with his wife, model Bianca Censori, who walked the red carpet in a completely sheer dress, leaving her essentially naked.
He also revealed in a podcast last week that he was diagnosed with autism, and suggested it was to blame for some of his past behaviour.
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