Kanye West ordered to pay former employee over $75,000 in legal fees
Kanye West was sued by a woman who claims she was subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation. Now, the rapper has been forced to pay her $76,245 in legal fees.
Ye attempted to dismiss his ex-employee’s lawsuit on free speech grounds, but she was awarded the fees on September 12th.
Jane Doe initially asked for $99,720, but Los Angeles County Judge Nicholas F Daum decided on a reduced amount that her lawyer was content with.
According to Rolling Stone, Kanye is appealing the ruling that described his First Amendment challenge as “frivolous.” Because of this, his new lawyer, Andrew Cherkasky, claimed the court should have waited to order the payment.
“We certainly do think there are very interesting First Amendment issues that could lead to additional appeals,” Cherkasky said. “At this point, we intend to aggressively move along with litigation.”
The judge believed Kanye’s motion was simply a stalling tactic, agreeing that the ruling was “frivolous.” However, it’s within Ye’s rights to appeal the fee.
The woman filed her lawsuit against Kanye in February, in which she claimed he sent her harassing texts that read, “Welcome to the first day of working for Hitler,” and “Hail Hitler.” She also claimed that Ye sent her a photo of a naked woman.
After reporting the allegations to her manager, Doe claims she was fired from her job at his Yeezy company.
Her lawyer, Carney Shegerian, previously said, “Ye waged a relentless and deliberate campaign of antisemitism and misogyny against my client. His appalling treatment of women and fixation on Nazism, evident in abusive texts where he repeatedly calls himself Hitler, expose his motives.”
Shegerian added, “We need to stop excusing Ye’s behaviour. As a father, husband, and employer, he must be held accountable. Ye dared my client to sue, and we will see him in court.”