[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Kanye West did WHAT with the kids who chose to attend his still-controversial Donda Academy?!
A new lawsuit filed by a former employee of West’s company Yeezy is making some jaw-dropping claims about the alleged situation over at the rapper’s much-maligned school. And to hear this new lawsuit and its plaintiff tell it, the Hurricane performer allegedly did some super shady s**t to the students at his academy. This is SO disturbing!
Related: Wait, Bianca Censori Is A Performance Artist Secretly In On Kanye West’s Antics??
On Tuesday, a man named Trevor Phillips filed suit in court claiming that he suffered from “severe discrimination, harassment, and retaliation” at the hands of Bianca Censori‘s husband. Per Page Six, Phillips had initially been brought on to work at Yeezy on design-related stuff. But at some point, his duties apparently expanded into working at Ye’s now-closed academy. That alone seems weird to us — making a business employee switch gears to work with kids in a school?! But things get SO much more bizarre and unnerving than that.
For one, Phillips’ suit claims the 46-year-old rapper would “proudly” tout antisemitic conspiracy theories in front of students. Ye even allegedly went so far as to tell two kids that he “wanted to shave their heads,” and “intended to put a jail at the school” to discipline them. These are children!! WTF?!
At one point, in December of 2022, Phillips went to dinner with West at Nobu Malibu. There, he claims the All Of The Lights rapper slammed Jewish people by describing them as “miserly.” Then, Ye supposedly praised Adolf Hitler as “an innovator” while ALSO claiming that the Holocaust was “fake.” Again… What. The. F**K???
Back at school, Phillips asserts in the suit that the Flashing Lights performer was known to engage in “incessant inappropriate conduct.” In turn, Ye would allegedly show off what Phillips called the A-lister’s “apparent arousal” by disrupting meetings and being completely out of pocket:
“What was meant to be a meeting with his boss about Donda Academy, its curriculum and horticulture, ended up being antisemitic and bigoted soliloquy-topped off with sexual harassment.”
And the suit goes even further. During one meeting, the Yeezy brand exec allegedly “began threatening the LGBTQ community” at one point, too. Phillips claims that Kanye said tech innovator Bill Gates “controls” gay people, before ranting:
“‘Yeah I’m going for the gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the gays!'”
So scary!!
Phillips went on to add even more: for one, he claimed Kanye “treated black employees palpably worse than white employees.” In one particularly unfortunate incident, Ye allegedly ordered a black security guard on campus to “shave his dreads” or be fired. The suit claims the guard chose to resign from his job. Then, Phillips himself got fired, too — an event he says occurred in May of 2023 in the middle of one of Kanye’s Sunday Services. Oof!
Phillips’ attorney Carney R. Shegerian released a statement to Page Six about the suit, saying:
“By filing this lawsuit, we hope our injured clients’ rights are vindicated, and that the famous artist Mr. West understands that his messages — which we alleged preach discrimination, antisemitism and Hitler-love — have no place in the world.”
Ultimately, Philips is suing the College Dropout rapper for discrimination, harassment, and fostering a hostile work environment. The plaintiff is seeking damages exceeding $35,000, per the news outlet. And interestingly, Phillips also wants West to be served with an injunction that would prohibit him from opening any type of future school for children in California. Wow to that last part!! Reactions, y’all??
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
To learn more about antisemitism and how you can help fight it, check out https://www.adl.org/.
[Image via MEGA/WENN]