A man who says he was assigned by Ye to gather intelligence against Kim Kardashian and another of the rapper’s former wives contends in new court papers that he needs to continue to proceed anonymously in his lawsuit against the rapper because he fears being further targeted by Ye and his fans.
Currently identified in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed only as John Doe, the plaintiff says the singer appointed him as his “director of intelligence” and that the artist formerly known as Kanye West assigned him to look into the family of his former wife Kim Kardashian and any alleged links Ye believed they had with crime, including alleged sex trafficking.
The suit also names as a defendant Ye’s company, Yeezy LLC. In a sworn declaration filed Thursday with Judge Holly J. Fujie in opposition to Ye’s attorneys’ motion to require the plaintiff to use his true name in his suit, Doe asks that his privacy be preserved.
“My position placed me within the inner circle of defendants Ye and Yeezy LLC, where I witnessed harassment and retaliation against other employees, which drove many of them to leave out of fear,” Doe says.
The plaintiff further says that when he reported alleged abuse at Donda Academy, he was retaliated against by Ye and his associates and received death threats. Ye told the plaintiff, ”I am dead to him,” according to Doe.
Yeezy’s operations manager warned Doe that he and his family would be in danger if he stayed, according to the plaintiff.
“I am afraid that if my real name becomes public I will continue to be targeted by Ye’s associates and his fan base,” Doe further says.
Doe also says he is a disabled veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that he fears that taking on more emotional distress will jeopardize his health and safety.
In their court papers, Ye’ attorneys maintain that allowing Doe to proceed anonymously deprives them of the ability to properly vet his credibility, to probe his prior employment or litigation history, to assess bias, motivations or damages claims, to properly conduct discovery and depositions and to defend against reputational harm to Ye. A hearing on the motion is scheduled Sept. 17.
According to Doe’s suit filed last Oct. 10, he also was allegedly ordered to conduct investigations into Ye’s then-wife, Bianca Censori, and to secretly follow Censori during her solo trips to Australia.