Kanye West is facing yet another lawsuit and this one went against him and his former chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos in U.S. District Court, according to new legal documents reportedly obtained by TMZ. Moreover, it accuses them of subjecting their employees to “forced labor and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment,” specifically those that formed part of the YZYVSN development team. For those unaware, that’s an app that Ye wanted to use to distribute VULTURES 1 and future installments instead of using streaming services like Spotify, and he also planned a porn venture that apparently is now scrapped. Regardless, he and Yiannopoulos allegedly abused their power over this development team in a very exploitative manner.
Furthermore, Kanye West and his former chief of staff hired an international developer group of various Black tech wizzes, a few of which were as young as 14 years old. The lawsuit accuses Ye and his colleague of falsely promising payment for these employees, forcing excessively long shifts through the night with no pay, and engaging in racist jabs and demeaning rhetoric. For example, they allegedly called some employees “new slaves,” a reference to the Chicago artist’s 2013 Yeezus track and a horrible way to treat your co-workers. According to court documents, this development team mostly worked remotely via platforms like Zoom and Slack.
Kanye West & Bianca Censori At Paris Fashion Week
![](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/imgprst/282x282-contain-81-auto/2024/06/Kanye-West-Lawsuit-1-scaled.jpg)
PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 19: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY – For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) (L-R) Kanye West and Bianca Censori attend the Prototypes Menswear Spring/Summer 2025 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 19, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Lyvans Boolaky/Getty Images)
Then, in April of 2024 (about a month into the possible YZYVSN launch), Milo Yiannopoulos allegedly promised to pay the team $120K. This would be after they completed the app’s development and under the condition of both no complaints and full agreement concerning work conditions. Kanye West allegedly demanded NDAs from all of them and threatened to fire and not pay them if they didn’t sign, which complicated things. Minor developers had to sign “volunteer” agreements, according to court docs. In addition, white managers overseeing the operation would allegedly disparage employees with racist remarks and other attacks on their identity, such as Yiannopoulos sending a Black team member a Black emoji and calling a younger employee a school shooter.
Meanwhile, another bombshell claim concerns the inception of “Yeezy Porn” in late April of 2024, which Yiannopoulos actually resigned over. Kanye West’s wife Bianca Censori allegedly sent someone in the app development team a file-sharing link with hardcore adult content, which the minors were allegedly not shielded from viewing. However, it’s important to note that Censori is not a defendant in this case. On May 1, the team allegedly showed one of the finished apps to Ye, although it’s unclear which one, and the lack of payment is what led to this lawsuit. The team seeks damages for unpaid wages, overtime pay, and emotional distress. At press time, no public response has emerged.
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output.
Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond.
Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C.
His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.