Kanye West Trial Begins Over Unpaid Wages, Injury

A civil trial in Los Angeles Superior Court has begun examining claims by construction worker Tony Saxon that Kanye West, the rapper also known as Ye, owes him unpaid wages and compensation for injuries sustained during the demolition of West's Malibu beachfront mansion. The dispute centers on work performed in 2021 at the property, which West purchased for $57.3 million earlier that year.

Saxon, who filed the lawsuit in 2023, alleges he was hired in September 2021 as a project manager, security guard, and live-in caretaker after being contacted by West's then-employee Bianca Censori, now his wife. He claims West promised him $20,000 per week but paid only once, leaving him owed about $75,000 for six weeks of labor, plus damages for a severe back injury. According to Saxon's testimony on Wednesday, West instructed him to live full-time at the site and not leave the property, even standing over him at 3 a.m. one night to question why he was sleeping. Saxon described sleeping on a mattress placed directly on the concrete floor and handling multiple roles, including security after another worker was dismissed.

The work involved stripping the Tadao Ando-designed concrete mansion to...