Kanye “Ye” West has been forced to pay a former contractor he hired to rework a famous Malibu mansion into an “off the grid” self-sufficient compound $140,000, after an L.A. jury delivered a mixed verdict in the weeks-long labor dispute and trial.
In the trial, which went on for two weeks at Los Angeles Superior Court, a verdict was announced on Wednesday after the jury decided Tuesday night that Ye, who has shed his birthname in favor of the two-letter nickname, must pay Tony Saxton for injuries suffered at the property while the unlicensed contractor was working for the rapper. Saxton had sought $1.7 million in compensatory damages.
The mixed verdict will see him handed $100,000 for past and future medical expenses and $40,000 for past pain and suffering. But no awards for damages involving future pain and suffering or punitive damages were granted to the plaintiff. Saxon had not been wrongfully terminated and the rapper-producer and fashion mogul engaged in no “malice, oppression, or fraud,” the jury decided on Tuesday.
The legal case centered on the contractor work of Saxon, who claims he described himself as a “man with a van” and not a contractor, and accused the rapper of forcing him to live in the property as he tried to realize the odd plans he’d concocted for the home. Ye wanted to make it self-sufficient and “off the grid.” As of now, the property, which was notably designed by Tadao Ando, the Japanese architect renowned for his work incorporating buildings within their landscapes.
The 4,000-square-foot, four-bedroom estate was stripped to a “concrete shell” during the failed renovation; it currently has no windows, doors, electricity or plumbing after Ye’s requested work on it. The rapper’s esoteric design demands included replacing a staircase with a slide. Saxon said in legal filings that, during the failed construction, he suffered an injury, was fired in retaliation after raising security concerns, and that the rapper should be on the hook for his medical bills.
Saxon’s attorneys have said that the lower amount awarded is disappointing, but they are happy with the result if they have stood up to the rapper.
“Though the jury’s award was less than we asked for, the California Labor Code allows us to recover our attorneys’ fees and costs. When it’s all said and done, the judgment against Ye should be more than $1 million,” Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said in a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter. “We will not be bullied by Ye, his team, or anyone else. We thank the jury for their time and their verdict, and we look forward to continuing to represent employees who have been treated unfairly and who refuse to be intimidated or silenced.”
Ronald Zambrano, the firm’s employment chair, called the mixed verdict a vindication for their client.
“Ye’s lawyers called him a liar, a fraud, and a malingerer in court,” he said in a statement. “His medical records, bank records, and personal family history were dissected, mocked, and vilified. Ye’s team demanded that Tony pay them to resolve the case and issue a public apology. Most people would have folded. In true David-vs.-Goliath fashion, Mr. Saxon stood firm against one of the biggest celebrities in the world, with the truth on his side.”
But the dispute over the house isn’t over between the two men, as they will head to court again over a suit Ye filed against Saxon regarding a so-called “mechanic’s lien” the hired contractor placed on the property in January 2024. In the suit, Ye claims Sason and his attorneys at West Coast Trial Lawyers “wrongfully” placed an “invalid” lien on the property, “while simultaneously launching an aggressive publicity campaign designed to pressure Ye, chill prospective transactions, and extract payment on disputed claims already being litigated in court.”
Ye claims that statements made to the firm regarding the lien and the firm’s statements to the press made it difficult for the property to sell in 2023.
“If someone wants to buy Kanye’s Malibu home, they will have to deal with us first. That sale cannot happen without Tony getting paid first,” Zambrano told Business Insider at the time. The quote is cited in the lawsuit as a hindrance to the property selling, as it created public pressure and interfered with the Ye’s ability to sell and finance the property by falsely conveying that Saxon held a right to block any transaction related to the mansion.
Yeezy representative Milo Yiannopoulos told People in a statement that the real case between the two men has yet to come to light.
“The first lawsuit ended with Saxon recovering only a small fraction of what his lawyers demanded,” Yiannopoulos told the magazine. “The second lawsuit will address the far more serious misconduct surrounding the lien and the damages it caused.”
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