Kanye West accused of sexual assault by former assistant
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is facing new allegations from a former personal assistant.
Lauren Pisciotta, who worked for West from 2021 to 2023, has filed a second amended complaint in her lawsuit against the 48-year-old rapper after previously accusing him of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
The new filing, viewed by People, accuses West of sexual assault, battery, sex trafficking, stalking and false imprisonment, among other allegations.
In the complaint, Pisciotta claims that 'Ye subjected Ms. Pisciotta to obscene comments about her body, demanded she wear tight fitting clothing, groped her on a regular basis, forced her to watch Ye perform sexual acts with other women, sent her sexually explicit pictures and demanded she do the same, and repeatedly demanded that she join his sexual encounters, which she refused.'
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The filing also alleges that West once 'attempted to vaginally penetrate Ms. Pisciotta with his fingers' and 'orally raped her without her consent' while she was employed by him.
A legal representative for West previously told Rolling Stone that Pisciotta was 'terminated for being unqualified, demanding unreasonable sums of money (including a $4 million annual salary) and numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct.' The rep also denied her 'baseless' allegations and accused the former employee of 'blackmail and extortion.'
Pisciotta's latest filing also accuses West of forcibly kissing her on the mouth and forcibly grabbing her by the throat. It also alleges that West 'offered someone the opportunity to have sex' with Pisciotta 'in exchange for allowing Ye to have sex with' that person's significant other.
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The complaint further accuses the rapper of sex trafficking, alleging that he made 'fraudulent promises of career advancement' in exchange for sexual acts.
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'Ye terrorized and dominated his employee, Ms. Pisciotta's life for approximately two years,' the legal document said, 'all under the pretense of offering serious career advancement opportunities in the music and fashion industry.'
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The filing also claims that after Pisciotta filed her original complaint in 2024, West allegdly hired an individual to 'SWAT' her, which involves engaging emergency services with false calls in order to enact revenge on an individual or organization by causing armed police SWAT teams to respond to a situation thinking there is an active shooter or dangerous situation at the scene.
'Within approximately one week of filing her original summons and complaint in this action, Ms. Pisciotta was bombarded with unwanted, harassing, and alarming visits from law enforcement and government agencies who claimed to be investigating various reports, such as child abuse, and searched her home and personal effects,' the filing reads.
Pisciotta is requesting general damages to be determined by trial, past and future earnings in an amount determined at trial, lawyers' fees, punitive and exemplary damages and whatever relief 'the Court may deem proper.'
The new filing marks the latest legal drama West faces, adding to a growing list of controversies surrounding the rapper.
Earlier this month, West was barred from entering Australia following the release of his pro-Nazi song Heil Hitler.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said West had been travelling for years to Australia, where his wife, Bianca Censori, was born. Her family lives in Melbourne.
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Burke said Heil Hitler promotes Nazism. The song, released in May, has been criticized as an antisemitic tribute to German dictator Adolf Hitler. It's also been banned in Germany and from online platforms including Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify.
The song includes a direct sample from a speech Hitler gave in 1935 and repeats the slogan hailing the German dictator.
'He's been coming to Australia for a long time. He's got family here. And he's made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released the Heil Hitler song and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia,' Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
'If you're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia,' Burke added. 'We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.'
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— with files from Global News
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