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Ye, formerly Kanye West is being sued by an ex-employee for creating a hostile work environment including accusations the rapper spread antisemitism, called Adolf Hitler ‘great’, and treated black staff “considerably worse than white employees.”
The former worker, Trevor Phillips, says he was hired in November 2022 and worked for Yeezy, Ye’s fashion brand, before moving to Donda Academy, Ye’s (unaccredited) private school.
Phillips levels several shocking allegations against Ye, including multiple racist, antisemitic, and homophobic comments made in front of staffers alongside verbal threats and abuse to Phillips himself.
According to the lawsuit, Ye has said that “gay people are not true Christians.”
Phillips’ employment coincides with the fallout from Ye’s publicly antisemitic statements, after which the likes of Adidas ended a decade-long partnership with the artist.
Whilst Ye has apologized for the remarks, Phillips alleges he continued to make antisemitic comments in the workplace.
"Phillips, on several occasions, witnessed Kanye preach to his staff obscenities such as “the Jews are out to get me’ and ‘the Jews are stealing all my money’ the statement says.
Ye is also accused of praising Adolf Hitler in conversation with Phillips, calling Hitler “great” and “an innovator.” In the same meeting, he also reportedly remarked “Yeah I am going for the gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the gays.”
The lawsuit also includes screenshots of communications, with one text exchange about Phillips’ work being criticized by Ye, reading “I am on some complete Hitler level stuff.”
Phillips says that Ye would frequently attack employees in front of their colleagues before re-hiring them, and often behaved inappropriately in business meetings, including discussing his sex life.
The suit suggests Donda Academy Staff attempted to ignore but struggled to de-escalate Ye’s comments as they were “fearing for their jobs.”
Indeed, Phillips claims that his attempts to push back on Ye’s alleged discrimination, racism, and antisemitism resulted in even further retaliation.
Upon confronting Ye about his behavior, Phillips, a Black Man, says he “became an even bigger target” after already being “at a disadvantage because of his skin.”
"Kanye responded mercilessly, with incessant harassment, humiliation, and attempts to both mentally control, and destroy, Phillips," the suit claims.
Eventually, per the lawsuit, the relationship deteriorated to the point Ye threatened the worker with physical violence in front of other staff as well as Donda students and families, saying he would punch Phillips in the face before screaming that he was “fucking fired.”
Phillips is not the first former employee to lodge a lawsuit against Ye and Donda, who have previously cited “absolutely egregious” workplace conditions including an overflowing septic tank and wrongful termination for reporting the safety concerns, alongside multiple accusations of inappropriate workplace behavior.
