Kanye West sued for harassment by ex-assistant

Kanye West is being sued for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination by a woman who worked as his assistant for two years.

In a lawsuit, Lauren Pisciotta alleges the star sent her lewd texts and performed sex acts while on the phone with her, according to US media.

She claims she was fired in 2022, but that a US$3 million (£2.4 million) severance package was never paid.

The BBC has contacted West’s lawyer for a response to her allegations, but has yet to receive a reply.

The lawsuit was first reported in the US by TMZ, and later confirmed by Rolling Stone, The Wrap and US Weekly, which says court papers were filed on Monday in the US.

The BBC has so far been unable to verify the filing.

According to the documents, Pisciotta was primarily supporting herself via an OnlyFans profile in 2021 when she met West.

She says he hired her to work on the first season of his Yeezy women’s fashion line, and they ended up collaborating on three tracks from his Donda album (Pisciotta does not have any formal credits on the record, however).

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 says she agreed to the terms.

According to her lawsuit, West was initially comfortable with her continuing her OnlyFans business. However, in 2022, he allegedly stated that he wanted Pisciotta to be “God like” and asked her to delete her account in exchange for a further $1 million.

After she closed the account, she claims she was bombarded with explicit text messages from West, including pornographic videos.

Pisciotta also claims he masturbated while talking to her on the phone and that, on one occasion, he pleasured himself in front of her after “trapping” her in a private room on his plane.

Around September 2022, she was promoted to Chief of Staff for his various companies, but was abruptly fired soon afterwards, her lawsuit claims. Her severance package was allegedly never paid.

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.