Kanye West sues ex-employee over Malibu mansion lien

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Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is taking legal action against his previous project manager and legal team. He claims they improperly placed a $1.8 million claim against his old Malibu home.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles claims that Tony Saxon, who used to manage projects for Ye, and the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers improperly placed a legal claim on Ye’s property. The suit also alleges they then tried to publicly pressure Ye and discourage potential buyers, hoping to get paid on claims that were already being argued in court.

Saxon’s lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

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Recent lawsuits and interviews with people involved offer new details about the serious problems within Donda and the unpredictable actions of its leader, which ultimately caused the organization to fall apart.

In September 2023, a former security guard and caretaker for Kanye West’s Malibu home filed a lawsuit against the rapper in Los Angeles. The suit alleges West violated labor laws, failed to pay for services rendered, and discriminated against the employee due to a disability.

According to court documents, in January 2024, Saxon filed a $1.8 million lien against the property. This lien is intended to ensure he gets paid for his work managing the project and providing construction services.

A mechanics lien, sometimes called a contractor’s lien, is a legal claim made by someone who wasn’t paid for work or materials provided for a property. If the debt isn’t settled, it could lead to the property being sold to cover the costs.

Ye has refuted the claims made by Saxon. In a legal response filed in November 2023, Ye argued that Saxon hasn’t suffered any harm or loss due to anything Ye did or failed to do.

Ye claims he put his property up for sale in December 2023. He alleges that Saxon and his lawyers filed a legal claim against the property a month later and quickly publicized it to the media.

According to the lawsuit, Kanye West’s lawyer, Ronald Zambrano, told Business Insider that anyone interested in buying West’s Malibu house would need to go through them, and that Tony would need to be paid before any sale could be completed.

According to the lawsuit, these statements were intended to pressure the public and disrupt the sale of the property. They falsely suggested the defendants had a legal right to stop the sale and take the money from it.

California

The $39 million Malibu home is currently being renovated by its new owner, who is reversing some unusual design decisions made by its previous owner, Ye.

According to the court documents, last year a Los Angeles court allowed Ye to remove a legal claim on a bond and also ordered the payment of his legal fees.

The Malibu property’s short existence has a long history of legal and financial drama.

In 2021, Kanye West bought a concrete mansion on the beach for $57.3 million. The house was designed by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. West then completely renovated the property on Malibu Road, jokingly referring to it as his ‘bomb shelter’ and ‘Batcave’.

After three years, the hip hop artist sold the dilapidated mansion – stripped of windows, doors, electrical wiring, plumbing, and with walls torn down – to Belwood Investments, a development company owned by Steven Belmont, for a loss of $21 million.

After serving three years in prison for attempted murder following a violent attack in Napa County, Belmont vowed to bring the beautifully designed home back to its original splendor, and had invested significantly in renovations to achieve this.

The property has faced several legal and financial issues, including the possibility of foreclosure.

The famous mansion was listed for sale again last August, this time with a price reduction of $4.1 million. This followed the collapse of a previous purchase agreement, as reported by Realtor.com.

Hollywood Inc.

For Subscribers

‘It was just a free-for-all’: What happened to Kanye West’s Donda Academy?

As a huge cinema fan, I’ve been following the story of Donda, and recent lawsuits and interviews with people involved are really shedding light on just how chaotic things were behind the scenes. It’s becoming clear that a lot of the problems stemmed from the founder’s unpredictable actions, and that’s ultimately what led to the whole thing falling apart. It’s a fascinating, if sad, story to watch unfold.

The lawsuit over Ye’s old Malibu home is just the newest in a long line of public and legal issues the musician has faced recently.

As a movie lover, I was shocked when Kanye West, a guy I used to really admire, started making deeply offensive antisemitic comments in 2022. It quickly led to him losing major deals with brands like Adidas and the Gap – he even publicly declared himself a Nazi online, which he later walked back, but the damage was done. It was a really disappointing and disturbing situation to watch unfold.

After two years, Ye unexpectedly closed Donda Academy, the private school he started in 2020, which had been facing difficulties.

Ye and the organizations he runs were sued by several former workers and teachers who claimed they were unfairly fired, subjected to a negative workplace, and experienced other issues.

In legal documents, Ye has rejected all accusations made by people who used to work for him and at his Donda school.

Several of those suits have been settled.

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2026-01-10 01:31