Kanye West has been sued by a former employee who alleges that he mistreated his Black workers at Donda Academy and repeatedly made antisemitic statements.
The plaintiff Trevor Williams was first hired by West in November 2022, according to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com.
Williams said he was initially supposed to work at West's fashion brand Yeezy, but was later put on a team focused on Donda Academy – a controversial private school created by the rapper.
"From the start of Phillips' tenure working at Yeezy and Donda, it was immediately apparent to him, and others, that Kanye treated the black staff considerably worse than white employees," the lawsuit says.
"Even when class was in session, Kanye would scream and berate black employees, while never even as much raising his tone at the white staff. Often, Kanye targeted Phillips — a black man — not just with this disparate and harassing behavior, but complete and utter disdain."
Phillips also claims he witnessed West: "(1) spew forth hate (2) profess antisemitic tropes and lies, (3) threaten the LGBTQ+ community, and even (4) on one occasion, almost sexually stimulate himself."
The plaintiff alleges that he was subjected to even more abuse after he spoke out against the rapper's alleged bigoted statements.
"In return, Kanye responded mercilessly, with incessant harassment, humiliation, and attempts to both mentally control, and destroy Phillips," the suit says.
This allegedly included a "vulgar lashing in front of schoolchildren and their parents" and threats of physical violence.
This isn't the first time West has been accused of anti-Black bigotry. He and conservative commentator Candace Owens were panned for donning "White Lives Matter" shirts at a 2022 fashion show in Paris. Many supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement have called that phrase racist.
The suit goes into more detail about the West's alleged antisemitic rhetoric, which lines up closely with his past public statements about the Jewish community.
Phillips alleged that West praised Hitler, called the Holocaust "fake" and said "the Jews are stealing all my money."
The rapper is also accused of saying that: "Jewish people are BAD, and they run America. And Chinese people run THEM."
Never miss a story — sign up for the Q newsletter for the latest music news on all your favorite artists, all in one place.
Many of these statements came as West was facing the fallout for his infamous "death con 3" Tweet in 2023. That led to Adidas ending its partnership with Yeezy.
"The Jews are working with Adidas to freeze up my money to try and make me broke!" the musician allegedly said at the time. "The jews can't stop me. Adidas can't stop me. I WILL BE THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD."
Representatives for West didn't immediately respond to Q's request for comment.
News about the lawsuit came after West and his collaborator Ty Dolla $ign canceled several listening parties across the U.S.
Fans were supposed to experience Vultures 1 and 2 in their entirety at the shows, but the second album still hasn't surfaced after the artists missed the planned release date last month.
A rep for West confirmed to Variety that the shows Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Charlotte and Washington, D.C, will not be happening. They were called off just days after they were announced.
