Kanye West sues ex-employee over Malibu mansion | Real Estate news

Kanye West, the rapper now identified as Ye, is suing his former project supervisor and his attorneys, alleging they wrongfully put a $1.8 million lien on his former Malibu mansion.

The swimsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, alleges that Tony Saxon, Ye’s former project supervisor on the property, and the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, “wrongfully” positioned an “invalid” lien on the property “while simultaneously launching an aggressive publicity campaign designed to pressure Ye, chill prospective transactions, and extract payment on disputed claims already being litigated in court.”

Saxon’s attorneys weren’t immediately accessible for remark.

Saxon, who was also employed as West’s security guard and caretaker at the Malibu property, sued the controversial rapper in Los Angeles Superior Court in Sept. 2023, claiming a slate of labor violations, nonpayment of providers and incapacity discrimination.

In Jan. 2024, Saxon positioned the $1.8 million “mechanics” lien on the property in order to secure compensation for his work as project supervisor and construction-related providers, according to court filings.

A mechanics lien, also referred to as a contractor’s lien, is often filed by an unpaid contractor, laborer or provider, as a maintain against the property. If the get together stays unpaid, it might immediate a foreclosures sale of the property to secure compensation.

Ye has denied Saxon’s allegations. In a Nov. 2023 response to the grievance, Ye disputed that Saxon “has sustained any injury, damage, or loss by reason of any act, omission or breach by Defendant.”

According to Ye’s latest grievance, he listed the property for sale in December 2023. A month later, he alleged, Saxon and his attorneys recorded the lien and “immediately” issued statements to the media.

The swimsuit cites a assertion Saxon’s attorney, Ronald Zambrano, made to Business Insider: “If someone wants to buy Kanye’s Malibu home, they will have to deal with us first. That sale cannot happen without Tony getting paid first.”

“These statements were designed to create public pressure and to interfere with the Plaintiffs’ ability to sell and finance the Property by falsely conveying that Defendants held an adjudicated, enforceable right to block a transaction and divert sale proceeds,” the grievance states.

The submitting contends that last 12 months the Los Angeles Superior Court granted Ye’s movement to release the lien from the bond and awarded him attorneys charges.

The Malibu property’s short existence has a long historical past of legal and financial drama.

In 2021, West bought the beachfront concrete mansion — designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando — for $57.3 million. He then gutted the property on Malibu Road, reportedly saying “This is going to be my bomb shelter. This is going to be my Batcave.”

Three years later, the hip hop star offered the unfinished mansion (he had eliminated the home windows, doorways, electrical energy and plumbing and broke down partitions), at a vital loss to developer Steven Belmont’s Belwood Investments for $21 million.

Belmont, who spent more money to renovate the home, had spent three years in prison after being charged with tried homicide for a pitchfork assault in Napa County. He promised to restore the architectural jewel to its former glory.

However, the property has been mired in varied legal and financial entanglements including foreclosures threats.

Last August, the infamous mansion was once again put on the market with a $4.1 million price cut after a earlier offer reportedly fell through, according to Realtor.com.

The legal battle surrounding Ye’s former Malibu pad is the latest in a collection of public and legal dramas that the music impresario has been concerned in latest years.

In 2022, the mercurial famous person misplaced quite a few profitable partnerships with firms like Adidas and the Gap, following a raft of antisemitic statements, including declaring himself a Nazi on X (which he later recanted).

Two years later, Ye abruptly shut down Donda Academy, the troubled personal college he based in 2020.

Ye, the varsity and some of his affiliated companies confronted confronted a number of lawsuits from former staff and educators, alleging they have been victims of wrongful termination, a hostile work surroundings and other claims.

In court filings, Ye has denied each of the claims made against him by former staff and educators at Donda.

Several of those fits have been settled.