New lawsuit claims West drugged and assaulted ex-assistant during Combs studio session: What we know

Kanye West, now generally known as Ye, is dealing with new allegations from his former assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, who beforehand sued him in June for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

In an amended criticism filed on Oct. 8 and obtained by a number of shops, Pisciotta, who labored for West from 2021 to 2022, claims that the rapper drugged and sexually assaulted her throughout a studio session co-hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs, who’s dealing with separate intercourse trafficking and racketeering prices, is called in Pisciotta’s criticism however isn’t accused of wrongdoing in her case.

West’s representatives haven’t responded to Yahoo Leisure’s requests for remark.

These newest accusations add to a rising listing of authorized troubles the rapper has confronted in recent times. Here is what we all know thus far concerning the new allegations — and a abstract of among the different lawsuits the rapper is at the moment dealing with.

👀 The most recent allegations

In response to the amended lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Pisciotta alleges that she and her former artist administration consumer, who’s unnamed within the lawsuit, had been invited to a studio session hosted by West and Combs in Santa Monica, Calif.

The criticism doesn’t specify when, precisely, this alleged gathering befell. Throughout the session, Pisciotta alleges that “drinks had been served to her and others in attendance” and that it was introduced that “all people needed to drink, in the event that they needed to remain,” in response to the criticism.

Upon consuming, Pisciotta alleges within the criticism that she “all of the sudden began to really feel disoriented” and felt “much less accountable for her physique and speech.” She awakened the subsequent morning with little recollection of what occurred, “feeling bodily sick and confused.”

For years, Pisciotta believed she had been drugged and embarrassed herself at a piece occasion. Years later, nevertheless, the lawsuit alleges that West introduced up that night time, admitting that they “did form of hook up” that night.

Pisciotta claims that their dialog led her to comprehend that she had been sexually assaulted by West whereas she was incapacitated that night time on the studio session. She determined to stop working for the rapper, however in response to the criticism, she needed to be “extraordinarily cautious” in her strategy, fearing she can be “silenced, blacklisted and retaliated in opposition to” by West and others within the music trade. Pisciotta was reportedly fired shortly thereafter.

The previous assistant didn’t accuse Combs of any wrongdoing within the criticism, although he’s now dealing with unrelated prices, together with intercourse trafficking and racketeering.

🧑‍⚖️ The prior lawsuit

In Pisciotta’s preliminary lawsuit, she claimed that West employed her in July 2021 as an govt assistant with a promised $1 million wage, requiring her to be on name 24/7. Pisciotta had beforehand labored on the rapper’s Yeezy Season 1 girls’s style line, in 2015, and his 2021 album Donda.

The yr earlier than West employed her, Pisciotta claimed she’d earned $1 million creating content material on OnlyFans and social media posts, which West supported. By August 2022, nevertheless, he allegedly requested her to delete the account in alternate for $1 million — a promise Pisciotta stated he by no means saved.

Pisciotta claimed that West promoted her to his chief of workers in September 2022, with a suggestion of a $3 million bonus. She was fired the next month and claims that she was by no means paid.

She is now suing for sexual harassment, breach of contract, wrongful termination and making a hostile work atmosphere, searching for at the very least $4 million in damages.

📲 Vulgar texts and intimate photographs

Pisciotta’s lawsuit alleges that West despatched vulgar texts, together with graphic sexual fantasies, in addition to intimate photographs of different female and male Yeezy workers.

“See my drawback is I be eager to f*** however then after I f*** I desire a woman to inform me how exhausting they been f***ed whereas I’m f***ing them. Then I need her to cheat on me,” one of many purported messages learn, in response to Web page Six.

Pisciotta additional claims that West despatched her snapshots and movies of himself having intercourse with fashions in addition to masturbating throughout telephone calls together with her and on a flight to Paris, in response to Rolling Stone. Pisciotta additionally accuses West of getting an “obsession” together with her, allegedly shifting into her constructing and stalking her after her termination. She additionally stated he grew to become offended when she rejected his advances so far or have intercourse.

❌ West calls the allegations ‘baseless’

Whereas West hasn’t but responded publicly to Pisciotta’s amended criticism, his attorneys beforehand slammed her preliminary allegations as “baseless,” telling Web page Six in June that the mannequin pursued West “sexually to coerce employment and different materials advantages.”

His attorneys additional claimed that Pisciotta blackmailed the rapper when “her advances had been rejected,” accusing her of stealing his telephone to “destroy telephone information that will contradict her claims.”

“Such habits is solely inconsistent with somebody who claims to have been sexually harassed or skilled a hostile work atmosphere,” West’s attorneys said to the Los Angeles Occasions. “It’s evident that Ms. Pisciotta leveraged her affiliation with Ye and his firm, and her proximity to him, to hunt materials positive aspects, clout, and employment by inappropriate means.”

The assertion added: “Her preliminary try at a lawsuit for illegal termination gained no media traction, main her to manufacture headlines following threats of blackmail and extortion.”

⚖️ A abstract of West’s different authorized troubles

West’s authorized group has been busy managing a sequence of lawsuits during the last couple of years. They embrace:

April 2024: Benjamin Deshon Pravo, a safety guard for Donda Academy, an unaccredited Christian personal college based by West in 2022, sued for racial discrimination, claiming the rapper favored white workers and fired him for refusing to chop his dreadlocks. That very same month, Trevor Phillips, a former Donda Academy and Yeezy worker, sued for West’s alleged discriminatory and antisemitic habits.
February 2024: West claimed Adidas was suing him for $250 million, although no public lawsuit surfaced. Adidas filed a non-public arbitration case over his public offensive statements, alleging breach of their partnership.
September 2023: Tony Saxon, a former caretaker and safety guard at West’s Malibu mansion, sued for $1 million, alleging harmful work circumstances and unpaid wages.
June 2023: Paparazzo Nichol Lechmanik sued West for throwing her telephone into visitors, claiming assault, battery and negligence.
Might 2023: Hole Inc. sued West for $2 million over the termination of their Yeezy partnership, accusing West of failing to fulfill contractual obligations.
April 2023: Academics Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers sued Donda Academy, alleging well being, security, and academic violations. They claimed the college failed to offer important companies and cling to state laws. A 3rd instructor, Timanii Meeks, later joined the swimsuit.