The artist formerly known as Kanye West is accused of assault, battery, sex trafficking, and more in a new filing from Lauren Pisciotta, who says she worked as Ye’s personal assistant (and later, chief of staff) for two years.
In an amended complaint viewed by Complex, filed July 8, lawyers for Pisciotta referred to Ye as a “sexual abuser” and “sexual harasser,” citing what they argue are several examples of this alleged behavior in action. The complaint also points to Ye’s own public statements, including an X update in February in which he claimed he’s “hit women before.”
Pisciotta’s initial suit against Ye in June of last year saw the Bully artist accused of wrongful termination and sexual harassment, among other things. By October, Pisciotta had further accused Ye of sexual assault.
The full list of claims made against Ye in the second amended complaint includes sexual harassment; assault; battery; sexual battery; sex trafficking; failure to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation; gender discrimination, stalking, false imprisonment, promissory estoppel (more on what that means here), and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to Pisciotta, Ye frequently made remarks about helping her get ahead in her career, only to “destroy” it.
“On one occasion, Ye attempted to vaginally penetrate Ms. Pisciotta with his fingers,” the suit alleges. “On another occasion, he orally raped her without her consent. Both assaults occurred during the course of Ms. Pisciotta’s employment.”
The suit alleges that Pisciotta, whose time with Ye stems from the Donda era, ultimately relocated to Florida “to escape” Ye. However, the harassment allegedly persisted, including through swatting.
Complex has reached out to reps for Ye for comment. This story may be updated.
Last month, Arick Fudali of The Bloom Firm, the Lisa Bloom-led firm representing Pisciotta in the suit, spoke with Complex’s Shawn Setaro about Ye’s social media activity and more while noting the case itself was still in “very early” stages.
“I’ve represented alleged victims against a lot of very high profile people who have a platform and are able to speak very freely about anything they want,” Fudali said at the time. “I have never, in my entire career of representing alleged victims, seen a defendant tweet out admissions to the case in the middle of litigation and discovery. This is absolutely a new one.”
