Ye nearly falls asleep testifying in $1 million lawsuit

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, appeared exhausted during a court appearance in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, frequently yawning, closing his eyes for long stretches and at times seeming to nod off entirely on the witness stand. The occasion was testimony in a $1 million lawsuit filed by his former project manager, Tony Saxon, over unpaid wages and working conditions Saxon describes as nightmarish.

A $1 million lawsuit over a gutted mansion

Saxon claims that Ye hired him in 2021 as a project manager for the renovation of a $57.3 million Malibu mansion designed by architect Tadao Ando. The property, which Ye later sold in 2024, was found to have no windows, no electricity, no plumbing and no interior finishes when it went back on the market.

According to the lawsuit, Saxon’s duties extended well beyond project management. He alleges he was required to work 16 to 18-hour days overseeing construction and demolition, managing workers and hiring contractors, while also serving as a full-time live-in caretaker and security guard. Saxon says he was made to sleep on a thin mattress on bare concrete and that when he raised concerns about the safety risks of using large indoor generators, Ye fired him. He is seeking $1 million in unpaid wages and damages.

A drowsy day on the witness stand

Ye’s court appearance did little to convey urgency. Saxon’s attorney Ron Zambrano reportedly leaned over to a colleague mid-testimony to ask whether Ye had fallen asleep. When Ye did respond to questions, his answers were mostly limited to single words or claims that he could not remember. He drew blanks on trips to McDonald’s with Saxon, a visit to a hardware store and an emergency call about Saxon running out of gas.

He did, however, find clarity on one point. When asked whether he recalled Saxon having a noticeable body odor problem, Ye confirmed without hesitation that he did.

He also corrected the record on two details from the renovation. He noted that he only wanted one staircase replaced with a slide, not all of them, and clarified that the home’s plumbing was not going to be eliminated entirely but replaced with a different system. He also made clear early in his testimony that he preferred to be addressed simply as Ye, without any formal title attached.

Bianca Censori took the stand a day earlier

Ye’s wife, Bianca Censori, testified the day before and confirmed that Saxon had been let go from the job. She told the court that his dismissal was not out of the ordinary given how things had been going. She also claimed Saxon had misrepresented his professional background, saying she had asked him directly whether he held a contractor’s license and that he told her he did. Saxon has pushed back on that account, previously telling the court that he had been upfront with Ye from the start that he had no formal contracting credentials and was not a licensed professional.

A pattern of employee lawsuits

Saxon’s case is not the first time a former member of Ye’s staff has pursued legal action against him. In 2024, former assistant Lauren Pisciotta sued him for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination, alleging he offered her $1 million to delete her OnlyFans account before sending her lewd messages and failing to pay her a $3 million severance.

That same year, former employee Trevor Phillips sued Ye for discrimination while working at Donda Academy, alleging that Ye regularly screamed at and berated Black employees and made clear he would fire anyone he considered overweight. Phillips also described being publicly humiliated in front of roughly 100 people during what he called an immature outburst. His complaint described the experience as one that crushed both his professional ambitions and his personal admiration for someone he had once looked up to. Two former teachers at Donda Academy also filed suit against West for failing to meet Department of Education requirements.

The trial is expected to continue for several weeks.