A judge has ordered Ye to pay nearly $2,500 in monetary sanctions to a home remodeler who alleges the rapper formerly known as Kanye West did not fully compensate the plaintiff for overseeing a renovation project at the entertainer’s Malibu mansion.
Plaintiff Tony Saxon maintains in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that Ye, 48, agreed to pay him $20,000 per week under a 2021 deal, but only turned over one $20,000 payment and $100,000 for constructions costs.
Saxon also maintains he was forced to sleep on the mansion floor while acting as a security guard and fired in November 2021 for not complying with Ye’s “dangerous requests” that could cause the plaintiff to be injured.
On Tuesday, Judge Brock Hammond ruled that Ye should pay Saxon $2,460 in sanctions based on a motion by the plaintiff’s attorney, who maintained in his court papers that a fine was warranted based on the rapper’s alleged failure to abide by code requirements, and instead delay serving verified responses to Saxon’s requests for admissions for more than 14 months.
“Given that defendant Ye served verifications well after responses were due, sanctions are mandatory,” the judge wrote.
In previous court papers, the singer’s prior lawyers denied Saxon’s allegation and cited multiple defenses, including that Ye did not “authorize, direct or ratify any alleged wrongful conduct” and that any actions by the performer were “at all times undertaken in the good-faith exercise of a legitimate business purpose.”
Saxon performed work without Ye’s “actual or constructive knowledge,” according to Ye’s attorneys’ court papers, which further state that it would be unconstitutional to force the rapper to pay punitive damages to Saxon.
Saxon maintains he often complained to Ye about various dangers during the remodeling, including workers unsafely demolishing various parts of the house with no safety equipment, but that Ye took no action addressing the plaintiff’s complaints.
The day Ye fired Saxon, the singer told him, “If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore and you’ll just see me on TV,” the suit filed in September 2023 states.
When Saxon replied, “I don’t watch TV,” Ye said, “Leave,” the suit states.