A jury in Los Angeles has ordered Kanye West to pay his former project manager Saxon Sh18 million following a lawsuit over the rapper’s multi-million dollar California home, according to multiple reports.
This is after rapper Kanye West was found liable in a lawsuit over unpaid wages and wrongful termination involving his Malibu home
According to NBC News, former project manager Tony Saxon claimed he was underpaid, injured and forced to live in poor conditions.
The decision follows a two-week trial where Tony Saxon alleged he wasn’t paid, was seriously injured and was wrongfully terminated while working on West’s approximately Sh7.3 billion Malibu mansion.
Saxon initially asked for Sh219 million in compensatory damages. However, the jury awarded him only Sh18 million with no additional punitive damages.
As per BBC, the verdict in the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court came after Tony Saxon claimed the 48-year-old musician did not pay him properly for work at the beachside property and fired him unjustly.
However, the rapper’s team argued in court that Saxon was an unlicensed contractor who “destroyed” the “architectural gem” while working there.
The Los Angeles Superior Court trial included both the “Stronger” rapper and his wife, Bianca Censori, taking the stand to testify about work at the home, along with a litany of claims from Saxon about working conditions.
The handyman initially filed the lawsuit in 2023, alleging unsafe working conditions, unpaid wages and wrongful termination. He also sued for medical expenses after saying he injured his neck and back on the job.
Saxon testified to the court that West said he could not leave the property and, on one occasion, woke him up at 0300 local time to ask why he wasn’t working.
The jury was shown a photo of a small mattress on a concrete floor that Saxon claimed he slept on while working at the property in Malibu, which West had purchased in 2021.
The rapper has gone through an epic downfall over the last few years over his racist and anti-Semitic tirades online, leaving many brands and companies cutting ties with him. He was blocked last year from entering Australia over his song that glorified Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.