Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) is facing a new lawsuit that claims an opera musician was locked inside a Wyoming high school band room to create his biblical opera Nebuchadnezzar.
In a case filed Wednesday (Nov. 11) in federal court, Chase Taylor claims that the controversial rapper hired him to perform in the show, but later revealed that he would need to compose the entire opera from scratch.
In a strange twist, Taylor alleges the star flew him to a Wyoming high school and that he was not allowed to leave: “Defendants locked the door and ordered Taylor to work until the opera was done.”
“Taylor objected to the abusive conditions and asked defendants (through [a staffer]) to unlock the band room doors, provide sufficient food and water, and provide appropriate time off for the musicians to sleep,” Taylor’s lawyers write in the court filings, obtained by Billboard. “Defendants ignored these requests.”
A spokesman for Ye did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard on Friday (Nov. 13). The case is a civil lawsuit and the rapper has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Nebuchadnezzar, based on the based on the biblical story of that ancient king, premiered in November 2019 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The opera, which ran just 45 minutes, was met with negative reviews (the Los Angeles Times called it a “Nebuchadsnoozer”) and was performed only once.
In his lawsuit, Taylor claims he was hired as a performer in the show, but that West’s plans for the opera were “built of air” — that he had “arranged to monetize the production” but had “failed to prepare the actual opera.”
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“After Taylor agreed, he learned the truth: there was no opera. No music, no score, no lyrics, no plan,” his lawyers write. “In their place: a barren room, a few other performers, and a directive to compose, orchestrate, and rehearse an opera from scratch, to be performed in four days.”
He says that creative process was unsurprisingly troubled. Taylor’s lawsuit claims the high school band room in Wyoming didn’t support the more than 150 performers involved in Nebuchadnezzar, and that Ye’s team allegedly ignored some of their most basic needs.
“Because the room did not include space to rest, musicians sat and slept on the floor when they needed a break,” Taylor’s attorneys say. “Defendants also did not provide enough food.”
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The lawsuit claims that Taylor was lured into doing the Ye opera project with promises of “lucrative compensation, producer credit, and future work.” But he says that nearly seven years later, he has not been properly paid for his work on the show.
“As time passed, West incorporated Taylor’s arrangements into West’s albums and concerts, and continues to earn millions from Taylor’s work, all while denying Taylor compensation and credit,” his lawyers say.
The case is hardly the first lawsuit over Nebuchadnezzar. Another musician named Willie Alexander filed a lawsuit last year over similar accusations, claiming he had been “shocked” to discover that the opera was unwritten; that case remains pending. Ye was also hit with class actions from performers and behind-the-scenes workers, one of which settled in 2024 for $1.35 million.
