The man suing Kanye West over injuries he allegedly sustained during the demolition of the rapper’s Malibu beach house testified in court yesterday (Wednesday February 25), claiming Ye told him that he wasn’t allowed to leave the property.
Tony Saxon, who is an ex-employee of Ye, took legal action against the star in 2023. He claimed that he was owed $1million (£800,000) in unpaid wages and loss of earnings after working as a project manager, full-time security, and live-in caretaker at the mansion.
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The lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court alleged that the ‘Donda’ artist unlawfully fired Saxon after he refused to comply with Ye’s “dangerous” demands.
Per the complaint, Saxon also severely injured his back while working for West. However, his requests for time off were allegedly ignored by the rapper.
As Rolling Stone reports, Saxon’s testimony yesterday included the claim that Ye had ordered him to live at the house full-time. He was allegedly told by West: “You can’t leave.”
When discussing one particular evening, Saxon recalled West looking over him while he was in bed in the early hours. “He stood over me and asked, ‘Why are you not working?’” said Saxon. “It was like three or four in the morning. I said, ‘I have to sleep sometime’.”
He said he didn’t know how to respond to Ye’s question, adding that the rapper had “chuckled” at his reply.
The 35-year-old testified that he had developed a friendly relationship with West, and had worked for him for six weeks from September 2021. Ye is said to have bought the property for $57.3million earlier that same year.
Jurors were shown screenshots of text messages between West and Saxon, in which they called each other “brother” and responded with heart emojis. The court reportedly saw an image of Saxon’s bed set-up at the house, too. This was said to consist of just a small mattress on a concrete floor.
West allegedly demanded photo updates of the work, and reportedly hit out at Saxon for wearing blue clothes instead of the all-black uniform Ye preferred.
Saxon went through numerous pages of text messages in court, including photos, updates and a budget he’d put together. He reiterated that the rapper had hired him as a project manager on the demolition.
“He wanted to turn the home into an open-concept, off-the-grid bunker, with privatised Wi-Fi and renewable energy,” Saxon reportedly told the jury. “He didn’t want to be connected to the city’s power grid or water grid.”
According to Saxon, the star asked for all wiring and plumbing to be removed, as well as a jacuzzi, chimney, a black-marble bathroom and more. He remembered one “experimental element” of the job, which involved removing all glass and windows.
“The whole house needed to be open, very bare, minimalistic,” Saxon said.
When testifying about another occasion, he remembered arriving at the mansion to learn that the night watchman had been fired. Ye then asked Saxon to take on security duties, the latter claimed.
“Since you’re going to be there so much, running shifts, you should be the security,” Ye allegedly told Saxon. He is said to have demanded: “Stay here now. You can’t leave.”
West’s lawyers claimed their evidence would prove that Saxon was an unlicensed contractor who unilaterally “destroyed” the “architectural gem”. They alleged during their opening statements on Tuesday (February 24) that Saxon was working as an independent contractor, rather than an employee.
Attorney Andrew Cherkasky argued that it was Saxon who wanted to keep the project “under the radar and low-key” so inspectors wouldn’t discover he was unlicensed and “shut down” the job.
One text exchange showed Saxon telling West: “We should probably chill for a bit on major noise outside until Monday, not to draw attention.” He claimed that he sent the message after Ye expressed concern.
Ye also raised concerns over “how loud” a generator would be, with another message from Saxon reading: “Just got another huge load of trash discreetly out of here too.” In response, West said: “Awesome, keep sending updates.” He also included a heart emoji.
As for the back injury he suffered on the job, Saxon told the court that this occurred when he was taking down two chimney stacks: “The full force of the spire going down yanked my body and whiplashed me.”
However, Cherkasky told the court on Tuesday that there was “not a single medical record” showing Saxon was injured when he was working for West.
Saxon’s lawyer, Ron Zambrano, claimed that this was because his client did not immediately seek treatment: “He’s not somebody who does what most people with health insurance who don’t get fired by celebrities do.”
But Saxon claimed that the rapper could be kind-natured, despite his alleged behaviour in the suit. When West noticed that Saxon hadn’t showered for days, he took him to Malibu’s Nobu Hotel in Kim Kardashian’s Lamborghini.
Saxon is scheduled to return to the stand today (Thursday February 26). The trial is expected to last another two weeks. Ye is expected to testify in court.
