Ye’s former chief of staff has added rape and sex-trafficking claims to her bombshell lawsuit against the artist formerly known as Kanye West, claiming the controversial rapper used coercion and false promises of music career advancement to grope and orally assault her.
The new allegations came in an amended complaint submitted Wednesday (July 9) by Lauren Pisciotta, who sued Ye last year for sexual harassment and other workplace violations. Previous iterations of Pisciotta’s lawsuit claimed Ye regularly masturbated in front of her, sent her explicit texts and photos, groped her and once attempted to force his penis into her mouth.
Wednesday’s amended complaint for the first time uses the word “rape” to describe the last incident, which allegedly occurred in a San Francisco hotel during writing sessions for Ye’s album Donda in 2021.
“Ye used his body to pin and restrain Ms. Pisciotta, restricting her movement and preventing her from leaving the bed,” says the lawsuit of this incident. “He then thrust his penis repeatedly into Ms. Pisciotta’s face against her will. As Ms. Pisciotta frantically pled for Ye to stop, Ye forced his penis into her mouth. Ms. Pisciotta froze in shock and fear but continued to plead with Ye and beg him to stop. After some time, Ye ended the rape, apologized, and exited Ms. Pisciotta’s hotel room.”
The other notable addition to Wednesday’s amended complaint is a new sex-trafficking claim. Lawyers for Pisciotta, who started as Ye’s assistant before being promoted to chief of staff, allege Ye lured her into his inner circle with promises that he’d help her music career, but that the goal all along was “to satisfy Ye’s own sexual gratification and to exert control over plaintiff.”
“Ye recruited and enticed plaintiff by making fraudulent promises of career advancement in exchange for plaintiff’s acquiescence to Ye’s sexual contact, and used force and coercion to obtain compliance with his sexual demands by engendering a fear that refusing Ye’s desires would be met with serious consequences such as public humiliation, online harassment, termination, retaliation and violence,” write Pisciotta’s attorneys.
Reps for Ye did not return requests for comment on the new allegations Thursday (July 10).
Pisciotta’s lawsuit is among numerous actions that Ye has faced in recent years that accuse him of mistreating employees and engaging in sexual misconduct. The once-powerful rap icon has fallen from grace amid a surge in erratic behavior, replete with racism and antisemitism, starting in 2022.
