- Ye has been accused in a new lawsuit of threatening to kill a former employee.
- The plaintiff said he was asked to investigate the Kardashian family.
- The lawsuit also says the plaintiff was instructed to hire investigators to secretly "tail" Ye's wife.
Ye, the embattled rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been accused in a new lawsuit of threatening to kill an employee who says he was tasked with investigating bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding the Kardashian family.
The plaintiff, a military veteran only identified as "John Doe" in the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in a California court, says Ye hired him around December 2022 after the rapper announced his short-lived plan to run in the 2024 presidential election, according to court documents.
The former employee says he was initially hired as Ye's "deputy campaign director, but that position eventually switched to "director of intelligence," at which point he was asked to conduct investigations into attorneys and other parties that have filed lawsuits against Ye, his brand Yeezy, and other related entities.
"John Doe was also tasked by Ye with investigating the Kardashian family and supposed various criminal links Ye believed they had with criminal enterprises, including alleged sex trafficking," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also says Ye instructed the employee to hire private investigators to secretly follow and "tail" his wife, Bianca Censori, while she was traveling alone to visit family in Australia.
Reps for Ye and the Kardashian family — which includes Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian — did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Thursday.
Kardashian filed for divorce from Ye in February 2021 after seven years of marriage. Their split appeared amicable at first: The former couple recreated their wedding at Ye's "Donda'" listening party in August of that year, and Kardashian joked about their divorce on "Saturday Night Live" that October.
But after Kardashian began dating comedian Pete Davidson, Ye rapped about wanting to "beat Pete Davidson's ass" in January 2022 and publicly criticized Kardashian's decision to allow their daughter, North West, on TikTok. Kardashian said in a February 2022 statement posted to her Instagram story that Ye's "obsession with trying to control and manipulate our situation so negatively and publicly is only causing further pain for all."
Their divorce was settled in November 2022.
In December 2022, Ye alluded to his relationship with Censori, a Yeezy architectural designer, by releasing a track on Instagram with the caption "Censori overload." In January 2023, TMZ reported that the couple had symbolically wed.
The plaintiff says he received threats from Ye's 'enforcers'
The plaintiff says in the lawsuit that Ye threatened his life and fired him this year after he reported to Yeezy leadership an allegation of child abuse at Ye's private Christian school, Donda Academy, in California.
"Almost immediately thereafter, on the same day, Ye himself called Doe to yell, curse and threaten Doe with great bodily injury, including death, if Doe repeated what Doe learned from the Donda employee," the lawsuit says. "'You're fucking dead to me!' Ye told Doe. Ye also played recordings of scary voices that were threatening to harm Doe."
In the days and weeks to follow, the lawsuit says the plaintiff — who is diagnosed with PTSD — received threats from Ye's associates who were known "enforcers."
Those alleged threats "exacerbated" the employee's PTSD, the lawsuit says.
"As a result of Plaintiff's lawful reports of violations of law, including child abuse and drug use, and his refusal to engage in unethical activities, Yeezy and Ye retaliated against Plaintiff through a campaign of threats, intimidation, and harassment," the lawsuit says.
The plaintiff accuses Ye in the lawsuit of retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and numerous labor code violations, including unpaid wages.
"Ye has only himself to blame for his mounting legal woes. He just can't continue hiring employees, treating them terribly, then refusing to pay them in violation of numerous employment laws, let alone threaten to kill them as he did in this case," the plaintiff's attorney, Ron Zambrano, a partner and employment litigation chair at West Coast Employment Lawyers, said in a statement.
Zambrano, who has previously filed other lawsuits against Ye on behalf of former employees, added: "Our client is so fearful of Ye and his erratic, disturbing and unpredictable behavior that he wishes to remain anonymous for his own safety."
"It's not only illegal but unconscionable that an employer would threaten any employee with bodily harm or death," Zambrano said.
The plaintiff is seeking more than $1 million in punitive and compensatory damages, including unpaid wages, according to Zambrano.