World
Kanye West sued by Jewish former employee for ‘antisemitic and misogynistic abuse’
Messages from West to ‘Jane Doe’ allegedly included him saying ‘Hail Hitler’ and ‘I am a Nazi’
February 12, 2025 16:01
Messages from West to ‘Jane Doe’ allegedly included him saying ‘Hail Hitler’ and ‘I am a Nazi’
February 12, 2025 16:01A Jewish former employee of Kanye West’s fashion brand Yeezy has filed a lawsuit against the disgrace rapper and the company after allegedly being subjected to a campaign of antisemitic and misogynistic abuse, including direct messages from West that said “Hail Hitler” and “I Am A Nazi.”
The plaintiff, named as “Jane Doe” is suing West, known as Ye, in Los Angeles superior court over allegations of wrongful termination and gender and religious discrimination. Her complaint details a series of alleged incidents between January and June 2024, during which West apparently orchestrated a “calculated campaign to threaten and psychologically torment women and Jewish individuals around him”.
After the employee began working for Yeezy in 2023, West allegedly compared himself to Hitler and threatened her for being Jewish on multiple occasions.
In January 2024, she suggested to a co-worker that West issue a statement condemning Nazism in response to the controversy surrounding his initial cover art for Vultures Vol 1, which resembled a Nazi aesthetic, but when her colleague communicated this message to West, he allegedly replied: “I Am A Nazi”.
In June 2024, West allegedly began to make comments about the employee on account of her Jewish religion, saying: “You what’s left after I said deathcon” [sic], referring to a tweet he posted in 2022, saying: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE…”
Also in June, West allegedly texted “Jane Doe” and other Jewish employees: “Welcome to the first day of working for Hitler.” Screenshots of text conversations with West also show the rapper's pattern of alleged harassment and misogynistic abuse. On multiple occasions West seemingly texted Doe: “Hail Hitler”, “Shut the F*** Up B****,” “You Ugly as F***”, “You stupid ass corny b****,” “You Piece of S***,” “You’re trash” “F*** You B****,” “You a 4 after all the make-up,” and “Now sue me you corny ass b****".
The complaint alleges that Doe was fired the day she reported West’s conduct to her supervisor.
According to the complaint, she then agreed to work for Yeezy in 2023 because West had shared a lengthy apology to the Jewish community on his Instagram, in Hebrew, for previous antisemitic remarks, and Doe wanted to give him “the benefit of the doubt.” She was also under the impression that her role would mainly focus on marketing his music, including his new album with Ty Dolla $ign.
Doe’s Attorney, Carney Shegerian, said: “Ye waged a relentless and deliberate campaign of antisemitism and misogyny against my client. His appalling treatment of women and fixation on Nazism, evident in abusive texts where he repeatedly calls himself Hitler, expose his motives. We need to stop excusing Ye’s behavior. As a father, husband, and employer, he must be held accountable. Ye dared my client to sue, and we will see him in court.”
It follows West posting a stream of antisemitic statements on X last week, including “I’m a Nazi … I love Hitler”, after which Yeezy began selling T-shirts with a swastika symbol on its website, with the product reference “HH-01”, alleged to be code for “Heil Hitler”.
Shopify, the company that provided the online platform for Yeezy, took the store offline on Wednesday, stating: “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms.”