Lauren Pisciotta, a former assistant to Kanye West, has filed a lawsuit against him, alleging sexual harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination.
The lawsuit details that during her two-year employment, West sent her explicit text messages and engaged in sexual activities over the phone. Pisciotta asserts that despite being let go in 2022, she did not receive the promised $3 million severance payment.
The BBC has reached out to West’s lawyer for a response to the allegations but has not yet received a reply. The lawsuit was initially reported by TMZ in the US and later confirmed by Rolling Stone, The Wrap, and US Weekly, which noted that court papers were filed on Monday in the US.
According to the documents, Pisciotta was primarily supporting herself through an OnlyFans profile in 2021 when she met West. She claims he hired her to work on the first season of his Yeezy women’s fashion line, and they collaborated on three tracks from his Donda album, although she does not have any formal credits on the record.
West subsequently hired Pisciotta as his personal assistant with an annual salary of $1 million (£780,000), on the condition that she was available “24-7”. She agreed to these terms.
In her lawsuit, Pisciotta states that West was initially fine with her continuing her OnlyFans business. However, in 2022, he allegedly asked her to delete her account to become “God-like” and offered an additional $1 million in return. After she closed her account, Pisciotta claims she received explicit text messages from West, including pornographic videos.
Pisciotta also alleges that West masturbated while speaking to her on the phone and, on one occasion, pleasured himself in front of her after trapping her in a private room on his plane. In September 2022, she was promoted to Chief of Staff for his various companies but was abruptly fired soon after. Her lawsuit claims she never received the promised severance package.
In addition to sexual harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination, Pisciotta is also suing West and his Yeezy businesses for fraud, unpaid wages, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
