Ye and a former Donda Academy security guard tentatively settled a lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleged he was fired in 2023 for wearing his hair in a way that was in keeping with his cultural traditions.
The plaintiff in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit is Benjamin Deshon Provo and Ye was formerly known as Kanye West. In his suit filed in April 2024, Provo alleged members of the rapper’s management team required Provo to choose between “critical aspects of his self-identity and financial stability.”
Provo contended that Ye, now 49, chided him for wearing his hair in dreads, which Provo practiced in keeping with his Muslim faith, and that Ye fired him in 2023 for refusing to shave his hair. Provo worked at Donda Academy and for Yeezy, Ye’s apparel company.
On Friday, Provo’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Brock T. Hammond notifying him of a “conditional” resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by Dec. 21. No terms were divulged.
Prior to the tentative settlement papers being brought, Ye’s attorneys filed court papers with Hammond seeking dismissal of Provo’s lawsuit wholly or in part.
“Without any foundation, plaintiff speculates that his separation and blocked return were attributable to a demand that he shave his dreadlocks,” Ye’s lawyers stated in their court papers.
Provo testified in a deposition that he shaved his dreadlocks in 2023 after finding it hard to get a new job and he said he has not regrown them, according to Ye’s attorneys’ court papers.
Although Provo initially contended that Ye on one occasion ignored his greeting while acknowledging a white colleague, the plaintiff later testified he could not recall the rapper interacting with a white security guard, Ye’s attorneys further stated in their court papers.
In his deposition, Ye testified he had a liking regarding employee appearance, but would not fire someone for failing to meet his preference, the singer’s lawyers further write in their pleadings.
During Provo’s deposition, his lawyer repeatedly grabbed the lawsuit from the plaintiff’s hands in order to prevent him from viewing it, Ye’s attorneys further write in their court papers.
Provo was hired by Best Way Protection in 2021 and admitted he did not agree to a fixed employment term, Ye’s lawyers further state in their pleadings. Best Way, which billed Donda Academy for Provo’s services, fired the plaintiff for allegedly continuing to leave his post and Ye had no part in the termination, according to Ye’s attorneys’ court papers.
But in their previous court papers, Provo’s lawyers contend that documented evidence shows Ye ordered Provo to shave his head and that when the entertainer noticed the plaintiff had not done so, Ye told Donda’s head of security, “The one with the dreads, tell him to shave his head.”