Kanye West created an app to advertise his rap music, fostering a racist environment with brutal work situations – while his wife, Bianca Censorsent pornographic films to employees that were accessible to minors, according to a new lawsuit.
The bombshell lawsuit, filed in a U.S. district court, named Ye and his former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulosas defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that Kanye and company engaged in “forced labor and inclement, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
The two were accused of constructing false guarantees to pay their adult and minor workers and forcing them to work absurdly long hours, as they were blatantly mocked with racist slurs and called “new slaves.”
It all started in the spring of 2024, when Ye decided to launch the streaming service app YZYVSN to rival Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music. The lawsuit says Ye wanted to avoid paying those companies to advertise his new albums, “Vultures” and “Vultures 2.”
Then, he and Milo allegedly employed a global group of developers made up of several black members, which also included teenagers under the age of 14.
The documents say the workers worked primarily remotely, maintaining constant communication with Ye, Milo and their workforce through the use of digital and online communication apps such as Discord, Zoom and Slack.
In April 2024, the documents say, Milo promised to pay the group of developers $120,000 after they completed the app if they agreed to the working conditions and did not complain.
However, matters soon got worse… the lawsuit says Ye ordered all workers to sign non-disclosure agreements, threatening to fire the smaller ones and refusing to pay them if they didn’t. The smaller builders were also required to sign “volunteer” agreements.
Then, Ye’s white managers, who oversaw international and minority staff, allegedly used derogatory language to create a hostile work environment.
In group chats, Caucasian managers used harassing language against subordinates regarding their age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin. Some members of the workforce were referred to as “slaves,” while others were referred to as “new slaves.”
The documents say Milo once sent a chat message with a black/brown skin emoji to an African-American workforce member, while calling a younger employee a school shooter. Employees were also bullied into working long hours at night without pay or sleep.
Then, in late April, Ye announced that he was launching an adult film business called “Yeezy Porn,” with his wife Bianca sending an employee a file-sharing link containing intense sexual activity, according to the documents. The minors were not prevented from watching lewd films while developing Ye’s porn app. Bianca is not named as a defendant.
On May 1, 2024, after an intense rush to deliver the application, the workforce allegedly offered Ye one of the many completed applications, but it is unclear from the documents which one. Ye and Milo allegedly never paid the workers for their hard work, prompting them to file the lawsuit.
The swimsuit seeks compensation for unpaid wages and overtime, as well as emotional distress.
We’ve reached out to Ye and Milo… so far no word back.