PETALING JAYA, July 2 — Kanye West has been named in a suit filed in a US District Court, along with his former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, as defendants, alleging the rapper engaged in "forced labor and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment”.
The due were accused of making false promises to pay adult and minor employees, forcing them to work long hours apart from openly mocking them with racist jabs and calling them “new slaves."
Court documents reveal that West and Yiannopoulos had hired an international developer group, which included underage teens as young as 14.
Employees mostly worked remotely, staying in constant communication with West, Milo and their team by using digital and online communication applications such as Discord, Zoom and Slack, reported TMZ.
Milo allegedly promised to pay US$120,000 (RM566,520) to the developer group once they completed the YZYVSN streaming service app commissioned by West, if they agreed to the work conditions and didn't complain.
It was claimed that West ordered all employees to sign non-disclosure agreements, threatening to fire the minors and refusing to pay them if they didn't, while minor developers were also required to sign “volunteer” agreements.
The star's managers who oversaw the foreign and minority workers, allegedly used disparaging language to create a hostile work environment, with claims that harassing language included references to age, race, gender, sexual orientation and national origin.
Some team members were called “slaves” while others were referred to as “new slaves” as they were bullied into working long hours through the night without pay or sleep.
Wife Bianca Censori meanwhile allegedly sent a worker a file-sharing link containing hardcore sexual activity where minors were not shielded from viewing the videos as they developed another of West's commissioned apps - a porn app dedicated to his foray into adult films.
Censori however was not named as a defendant.
On May 1, 2024, the team allegedly presented Ye with one of the finished apps, but West and Milo were said to have never paid the employees.
In the latest development, In April, Yiannopoulos blasted one of the plaintiffs, Shemar DaCosta, as a “tragic, desperate, attention-seeking wannabe Yeezy staffer.”
He also insisted DaCosta told “odious lies” about Bianca who he referred to as “the Lady of the House” and claimed allegations of disparaging language to create a hostile work environment were all false.
