As Kanye West fans await the second volume of his Vultures trilogy collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, as well as his intended entrance to the porn industry, the rapper and mogul is now at the center of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Yeezy assistant. In response to the claims of vulgar comments, lewd photographs and broken financial agreements, West’s legal team has come out claiming the woman’s accusations are baseless, and that she’s made attempts to blackmail the Grammy winner.
The lawsuit, which was filed by ex-Yeezy employee Lauren Pisciotta, is filled with Ye’s alleged sexually charged demands and behavior while she was working for him. But in their response to those claims, West’s lawyers claim this is all an attempt to gain money and notoriety, and that it follows Pisciotta’s past efforts to further her employment opportunities with sexual advances. According to their statement to Page Six:
In response to these baseless allegations, Ye will be filing a lawsuit against Ms. Pisciotta. Prior to her termination as an assistant, Ms. Pisciotta stole his cell phone in an attempt to destroy phone records that would contradict her claims, all of which have been preserved. She was terminated for being unqualified, demanding unreasonable sums of money (including a $4 million annual salary) and numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct.
It’s unclear whether Ye’s attorneys aim to file a suit against Lauren Pisciotta imminently, or if they’re waiting for a response from her lawyers. Either way, it appears they’re ready to fight the accuser’s claims in court, going so far as to say they can prove her claims wrong through phone records.
While it isn’t specified whether her “attempt to destroy” them involved deleting texts, DMs, and pictures, the lawyers’ response does allege that Pisciotta sent her boss nude pictures and more, and made claims about her behavior while on the job site.
Pisciotta offered Ye sex on his birthday to which he declined, sent Ye unsolicited nude images, sexual narratives and was seen twerking in the office during business hours. . . . [She also bragged about being] ejaculated on by a soccer player while simultaneously texting her boss.
The legal team also alleged that Pisciotta attempted to get West to buy her a Lamborghini and pay for her plastic surgery (among other things) by offering up sexual advances. On top of that, they claim after she was rejected, Pisciotta then attempted to solicit upwards of $60 million via blackmail, and then eventually dropped that total to $50 million for this lawsuit filing.
Ye’s attorneys also called out Pisciotta’s behavior as being “entirely inconsistent” with a former employee claiming to have been sexually harassed, and wrapped things up by claiming her lawsuit is meant only as a means to gain money and attention.
Pisciotta’s lawsuit claims West sent her a variety of vulgar text messages, some of which addressed his desire for sex, while others addressed the idea of his genitals being racist. He allegedly shared videos of himself having sex with models, and engaged in masturbating while they were on the phone together. She claims he also locked her in a room with him while he masturbated to completion, and that her rejections to his sexual advances is what eventually made him angry enough to fire her.
On top of the more illicit allegations, the former assistant also says West offered to double her $1 million annual salary if she quit OnlyFans, and claimed it’s after that point when the texts and advances began. Ahead of being fired, she claims she was promoted to being Chief of Staff across several of Ye’s brands, to the tune of a $4 million salary, but that she was fired soon after, and that the promise of a $3 million severance package went unfulfilled.
West’s publicized interests in starting up a pornographic empire drew more attention to the rapper’s sexual proclivities, with a former exec quitting over the issue, and Censori always attracts attention for what she’s wearing (or isn’t wearing) when out in public with Ye. (She’s allegedly “freaking out” over the porn stuff, also.)
Less than two months before this lawsuit was filed, Kanye West was in the middle of a battery case over him allegedly punching someone who supposedly shoved Ye’s legal wife Bianca Censori in a hotel. In the same month, he was also sued by a former Yonda Academy security guard who alleged that West and other employers treated him and other Black employees harshly in comparison to white coworkers, and that he was eventually fired over his skin color.