Kanye West is being sued by a former Yeezy employee, who alleges in a complaint that the rapper compared himself to Hitler, threatened her because she was Jewish and fired her one day after she reported his alleged conduct to her supervisor.
The employee, identified as Jane Done, filed her complaint in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Doe began working for Yeezy as a marketing specialist in late 2023, around the time West apologized to the Jewish community in Hebrew for making several antisemitic remarks, per court documents obtained by PEOPLE. After his “short lived” apology, West “carried out a calculated campaign to threaten and psychologically torment Jewish people around him, especially Plaintiff,” the lawsuit alleges.
Per the court documents, West allegedly began to call himself “Hitler” and a “Nazi,” and threatened Doe because she was Jewish. He allegedly insulted her on several occasions, calling her a “bitch,” and “ugly” and “spewed hate speech against” her religion.
In January 2024, West’s then-forthcoming album Vultures Vol. 1 was widely criticized as its cover was compared to Nazi symbolism. Doe said in her filing that she told a co-worker West should openly condemn “any ties with Nazism” to “quell the negative attention.” West allegedly replied via text with, “I Am A Nazi.”
Also in January 2024, the complaint claims that West allegedly sent a photo of a nude female to a group chat that included Doe. “The unwelcome exposure to such nudity made Plaintiff feel uncomfortable and deeply unsettled,” the lawsuit states. “However, Plaintiff did her best to ignore it and persevered through Ye’s constant degradation of women.”
West’s alleged conduct continued throughout early 2024. On June 4, the complaint claims that he texted Doe and other co-workers of Jewish descent, “Welcome to the first day of working for Hitler,” according to the filing. West then allegedly removed Doe and two other Jewish employees from the group chat temporarily. After adding them back in, West told them, “F— both of you,” before deleting from the chat again, Doe claims.
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She reported West’s alleged comments and sent a screenshot of the messages to her supervisor. Shortly after, per the suit, West allegedly used his wife Bianca Censori’s phone to insult Doe, calling her a “heartless sociopath,” comparing her to an OnlyFans model, and telling her, “Shut the f— up bitch.”
In a group chat exhibited in the complaint, West allegedly wrote a verbal Nazi greeting amid a series of profanity-laced texts, writing “You what’s left after I said deathcon.”
West also used the “deathcon” phrase in a 2022 tweet when he wrote, “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE…” Doe alleged West’s text was a direct threat against her.
The following day, on June 5, Doe was terminated via email.
Screenshots of the text messages sent from someone listed as “Ye Private” and “Kanye West” were included in the court documents.
Doe is suing West, alleging discrimination, a hostile work environment, retaliation for engaging in protected activity, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, breach of express oral contract to pay wages at a certain amount, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, retaliation for reporting working conditions, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Ralph Act and sex, religion, national origin and/or gender discrimination in violation of the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act.
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According to California’s Civil Rights Department, the Ralph Act “protects you from violence against you or your property because of your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and other protected characteristics.”
She is suing for an undisclosed amount higher than $35,000 and wants a trial by jury.
The filing follows West’s antisemitic slur-filled rant on X this week. Shortly after, he was dropped by his management team. His Yeezy website was also shut down on Tuesday after selling Swastika T-shirts that he promoted during the Super Bowl. Shopify said the product “violated our terms.”
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