A former employee of Kanye West’s has accused the rap mogul of threatening the staff and students of his private Christian school, Donda Academy, according to a new lawsuit filed Tuesday.
It’s just the latest in a series of lawsuits filed by former staffers of Donda, whose allegations range from “absolutely egregious” and unsafe conditions on campus to inappropriate behavior and “unlawful educational practices.”
Trevor Phillips, who worked for Ye at both his fashion brand Yeezy and the unaccredited school from November 2022 to August 2023, claims in the new 47-page complaint reviewed by Business Insider that, in addition to creating a hostile work environment by threatening and sexually harassing staff, West also regularly praised and compared himself to Hitler over the course of their working relationship.
Representatives for Donda Academy, Yeezy, and a lawyer for West did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Phillips was hired shortly after West’s business empire began to collapse following his repeated antisemitic comments on social media, in which he claimed he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people.
But, despite his public apologies for the remarks, Phillips said West’s antisemitic comments and praise of Hitler continued at work, sometimes within earshot of students.
In one conversation, text messages included in the complaint purport to show West, in response to asking a second time for information regarding seeds required for the Donda Academy garden, said “I am on some complete Hitler level stuff. Minus the gas chambers. In Jesus name.”
“Phillips, on several occasions, witnessed Kanye preach to his staff obscenities such as ‘the Jews are out to get me’ and ‘the Jews are stealing all my money,'” the complaint reads. “Fearing for their jobs and also to de-escalate Kanye’s absurdities (so that the two present school children did not hear), the school staff did their best to ignore him.”
In front of the two schoolchildren, however, the suit says West continued his inflammatory rhetoric, with the “Life of Pablo” singer openly discussing how he “only likes to date white women.”
“Then, addressing the two school children, Kanye told them that he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages,” the complaint adds.
Though he was hired on as an admirer of West’s, in the suit Phillips claims his and West’s relationship deteriorated over the course of the year.
Phillips, a Black man, alleged in the complaint that West regularly discriminated against Black staff at the school — including Phillips himself — that West behaved erratically at work, misappropriated school funds for a trip to Paris, and that the fashion designer often threatened to fire employees only to change his mind later.
In one instance, during a dinner from the high-end sushi restaurant Nobu, Phillips alleged West simulated masturbating and graphically described his sex life in the midst of what Phillips believed was a business meeting regarding the horticulture program at Donda.
“Hundreds of dollars in sushi was served, and while Kanye indulged in his food he could not resist indulging in his favorite topic: ‘The Jews are GREEDY and they keep trying to take MY MONEY,'” the complaint reads. “In addition to other repeated attacks on Jewish people, Kanye then began threatening the LGBTQ community. ‘Yeah I am going for the Gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the Gays.'”
“Gay people are not true Christians,” West is quoted in the suit as saying. “And Gay people are controlled by Bill Gates so that they don’t have children for population control.”
Shortly before he left the school in August of 2023, Phillips alleged in the suit he was targeted by West in a particularly venomous tirade in front of staff, students, and their families during an event at Donda Academy. Phillips claims West repeatedly told him he was going to punch him in the face, though Phillips notes in the complaint he was unsure what caused West’s outburst, which included repeatedly screaming at Phillips in front of a crowd that he was “fucking fired.”
At that point, the complaint notes, Phillips broke down over Kanye’s inhumane treatment that day, as well as the months of harassment, racism, sexual harassment, and exposure to antisemitic remarks.
“While Kanye considered himself a god or king, in reality he was an ill-tempered tyrant and despot, who sought to mentally obliterate and control those around him,” the complaint reads.
Phillips is seeking $35,000 in damages and an injunction to prevent West from owning and operating any type of educational school for children under 18 years in California.
West has not yet publicly commented on Phillips’ claims, though he previously settled a separate lawsuit that alleged he repeatedly made antisemitic remarks in the workplace.
“By filing this lawsuit, we hope our injured clients’ rights are vindicated, and that the famous artist Mr. West understands that his messages — which we alleged preach discrimination, antisemitism, and Hitler-love — have no place in the world,” Carney R. Shegerian, whose firm Shegerian & Associates is representing Phillips, told Business Insider.
