Everything to know about Kanye West-Lauren Pisciotta lawsuit

Kanye West has pulled an uno reverse on his ex assistant Lauren Pisciotta who recently sued him over alleged sexual harassment.

Kanye's legal team released a statement on Tuesday against the former Yeezy employee, rubbishing her claims as 'baseless.'

The rapper, who now goes with the legal name Ye, has decided to file a lawsuit against Pisciotta in response to her allegations.

Ye's lawsuit against Pisciotta:

Ye's lawyers alleged that it all began with the adult model pursuing 'him sexually to coerce employment and other material benefits.'

The lawsuit declares that Pisciotta, 35, resorted to blackmailing the Grammy winner when 'her advances were rejected.'

“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," the statement reads. 

According to the lawsuit, Pisciotta was fired for 'numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct' and 'demanding unreasonable sums of money, including a $4 million annual salary.

Ye's team listed Hermès Birkin bags, a Lamborghini and plastic surgery among some of the demands made by the former Yeezy assistant during her employment.

Per the lawyers, “Pisciotta offered Ye s** on his birthday to which he declined, sent Ye unsolicited nude images, sexual narratives and was seen twerking in the office during business hours.”

“Upon having her advances rebuked, Pisciotta’s blackmail demands have gone from $60 million last year to $50 million in last week’s frivolous filing,” his lawyers continued.

They also rubbished Pisciotta’s behavior as 'entirely inconsistent with someone who claims to have been sexually harassed or experienced a hostile work environment.'

The statement further claimed that she used her position at the clothing brand 'to seek material gains, clout, and employment through inappropriate means.'

Pisciotta claims sexual harassment and wrongful termination:

Pisciotta's lawsuit against Ye came Monday where she complained of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation, unpaid wages and gender discrimination at the workplace.

As per her claim, she was hired in July 2021 with a starting $1 million salary— a sum the two decided upon mutually to match her annual earnings through social media and an adult content site account —under the condition that she had to be available to the rapper at all times.

During her employment, Ye allegedly offered her an extra $1 million to encourage her to delete her account to be more 'God like,' pointing out further that he never paid the amount.

In her lawsuit, Pisciotta further alleged that Ye sent her inappropriate and graphically sexual messages and videos throughout her employment, examples of which included in the documents. 

She also described his sexual fantasies, sexual encounters with an unnamed model and other messages which 'suggested that Plaintiff [Pisciotta] wanted to have s** with Defendant [West] and actually had sexual intercourse with Defendant, when in fact she did not want to and never indeed did do.'

Pisciotta also claimed Ye called her regularly citing work but would 'masturbate during the phone conversation' and ask her to guess what he was doing. 

Pisciotta was later promoted to chief of staff with a $4 million in September 2022, but was fired a month later as she turned down his sexual advances. 

The former Yeezy employee was offered a severance of $3 million upon forced termination which she accepted but was never paid.

Donda Academy accusations:

This isn't the only lawsuit Ye is dabbling with in courts as the Yeezy founder recently denied accusations in a separate case filed against him by his former employee Phillips Trevor.

In the April 2024 lawsuit, Trevor made several accusations against the musician regarding his Donda Academy which Ye recently denied claiming he did nothing wrong which would harm the students.

Experts discuss Kanye's 'big risk' with his marriage:

Amid these rumours, Kanye has frequently been sighted with his architecture wife, Bianca Censori, dressed in bold outfits as they walk in and out of Yeezy production meetings.

While the exact timeline of Kanye's relationship with Bianca remains unclear, they were first linked when she joined his Yeezy team as an architectural designer in November 2020.

PR experts are of the opinion that while Ye's decision to keep his wife around on professional fronts helps them stay close and connected, they also see the co-working aspect as a 'big risk.' 

“I think that it would be wonderful if working together would bring them some focus and stability. When couples work together and it goes well it is definitely something to be celebrated,” Jane Owen told the Mirror.

“However, it's a big risk in this case, mainly because Kanye and his wife have been so unstable and made such strange statements and decisions. I would say that it will be a PR triumph if it's a successful endeavour, but a massive disaster if it goes wrong,” Owen added.

Kanye and Bianca tied the knot in January 2023 but kept their wedding under wraps on basis of a 'confidential' license, meaning it was not made a public record. The wedding was officiated by James and didn't require witnesses due to its confidential nature.

Mirror also reported that it's been claimed that Kanye and Bianca got married for one key reason; the pair wanted 'to be intimate.'