{"id":59858,"date":"2026-03-11T17:56:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/jury-finds-kanye-west-liable-for-claims-from-malibu-mansion-worker\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:56:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:56:37","slug":"jury-finds-kanye-west-liable-for-claims-from-malibu-mansion-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/jury-finds-kanye-west-liable-for-claims-from-malibu-mansion-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury Finds Kanye West Liable for Claims From Malibu Mansion Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tKanye West<\/a>, the musician now known as Ye, was found liable by a jury Wednesday after a two-week trial over claims from a man who said he was seriously injured and wrongfully fired<\/a> during the controversial gutting of Ye\u2019s $57 million Malibu mansion in 2021.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe plaintiff, Tony Saxon, had asked for $1.7 million in compensatory damages. However, the jury only awarded him $140,000 with no additional punitive damages. <\/p>\n

\n\tOn the witness stand, Saxon alleged that Ye hired him as a project manager and around-the-clock security guard at the contemporary concrete beach house designed by the Pritzker Prize\u2013winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando. \u201cStay here now. You can\u2019t leave,\u201d Ye purportedly demanded, according to Saxon\u2019s testimony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tSaxon, 35, testified that he severely injured his neck and back while working at the property and was later fired after seeking workplace accommodations and refusing to run fuel-powered generators indoors<\/a>. He said that when he warned Ye the generators posed a carbon monoxide risk, the rapper snapped, \u201cIf you don\u2019t do what I ask you to do, you\u2019re an enemy. You\u2019re a Clinton. You\u2019re a Kardashian. And I won\u2019t be your friend anymore, and you\u2019re only gonna see me on the TV and the news.\u201d Saxon told jurors the moment was \u201ca very scary interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn closing arguments Monday, Saxon\u2019s lawyer, Ron Zambrano said that under California law, Saxon had been hired as a full-time employee, not an independent contractor. Zambrano played a clip from Ye\u2019s videotaped deposition in which the musician was asked whether he disputed hiring Saxon as an employee. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t dispute it,\u201d Ye replied on video, before later taking it back.<\/p>\n

\n\tZambrano said Saxon produced thousands of pages of records supporting his claims. By contrast, he told jurors, Ye\u2019s legal team turned over just 19 pages of discovery. \u201c[Saxon] kept things that were embarrassing, and he still presented them to you,\u201d Zambrano said. \u201cMr. Saxon, for all his layers, was transparent with you. He has been victimized, and he got hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tAmong the materials presented to jurors were 94 pages of text messages between Saxon and Ye, who bought the house for $57 million in 2021 and ordered it stripped of plumbing, toilets, fixtures, cabinets, electricity, a concrete fireplace, and two custom 30-foot stainless steel chimney stacks. Ye later sold the property for $21 million in September 2024, a steep loss.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his dueling closing argument, Ye\u2019s lawyer, Andrew Cherkasky, portrayed Saxon as an unreliable witness who fabricated claims about injuries and unpaid wages after being let go from the project. \u201cThe lies are so deep and so wicked, not a thing can be believed that came out of his mouth,\u201d Cherkasky said, calling Saxon a \u201cprofessional victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYe\u2019s wife, Bianca Censori<\/a>, an architect from Australia who worked on the Ando house, testified that Ye had an aversion to stairs and windows<\/a>, preferring \u201cramps and slides\u201d and \u201ctrying mesh as the barrier between indoor and out.\u201d She said Saxon told her that he was a licensed contractor, a claim Saxon denies.<\/p>\n

\n\tCherkasky also praised Ye for appearing in court last week and taking the witness stand. As\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/em>\u00a0previously reported, Ye\u00a0struggled to keep his eyes open<\/a>. \u201cHe answered the questions. He wasn\u2019t sleeping. He was bored. This is beneath him,\u201d Cherkasky said Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn rebuttal, Zambrano said Ye hardly deserved a \u201cparticipation prize\u201d for his brief appearance. \u201cWho\u2019s been here the rest of the time? You guys,\u201d he told the jury of seven women and five men on Monday.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tZambrano argued Ye was gutting the Ando house without permits and hired Saxon not as a licensed contractor but to keep the work discreet. He pointed jurors to a group text message from Censori that read, \u201cNo permitting increases caution,\u201d which suggested the team should seek solutions that are \u201cquicker\u201d and create \u201cless red flags.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tText messages shown in court appeared to document Saxon complaining about a back injury suffered on the job. \u201cI hurt my back and have been taking it easy,\u201d he wrote to Ye in one text from his tenure on the job in late 2021. In another message to Censori, he wrote, \u201cMy back is so fucked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSaxon also asked about seeing a chiropractor who regularly visited Ye\u2019s warehouse office in Los Angeles and wrote to Censori at one point, \u201cI can\u2019t live here anymore,\u201d adding that he had asked Ye to hire new security.<\/p>\n

\n\tZambrano said Saxon, a vintage records dealer and performer, described himself to Ye as a \u201cguy with a van,\u201d not a professional contractor. \u201cTony is not a general contractor. He never was. Everyone knew that,\u201d Zambrano said, arguing Ye\u2019s failure to secure workers\u2019 compensation insurance left him responsible for Saxon\u2019s injuries.<\/p>\n

\n\tCherkasky countered that Saxon\u2019s messages reflected a typical relationship between a homeowner and an independent contractor. \u201cYour passion about the outcome of your home is not an invitation to have someone become an employee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tJurors also heard testimony from Jeromy Holding, a handyman who supported Saxon\u2019s claim that the project lacked permits. Holding said the home was discussed as potentially serving as a private school location, a bomb shelter, a monastery, a recording studio, and a playground with slides and ramps.<\/p>\n

\n\tCensori disputed the idea that the project was chaotic, describing Ye\u2019s evolving directives as \u201citerations\u201d of a consistent vision. \u201cThis was all concepts,\u201d she testified. \u201cIt was always going to be a residence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSaxon\u2019s lawsuit is the first to reach a jury among a wave of civil complaints<\/a> filed by people who worked for Ye in recent years. The musician, 48, has faced more than a dozen lawsuits since an October 2022 social media tirade in which he\u00a0tweeted his now-infamous plan<\/a>\u00a0to \u201cgo death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.\u201d Last year, Ye again posted inflammatory messages on X, formerly Twitter, writing \u201cIM A NAZI,\u201d and \u201cI LOVE HITLER.\u201d Days after that, he aired a Super Bowl commercial promoting Yeezy.com, where he later sold shirts emblazoned with swastikas. Last May, he released a single titled \u201cHeil Hitler,\u201d which was quickly removed from most digital streaming services.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn January, he took out a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal<\/em> apologizing for the hateful rhetoric<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not asking for sympathy, or a free pass, though I aspire to earn your forgiveness,\u201d the ad read. \u201cI write today simply to ask for your patience and understanding as I find my way home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYe is still facing a crush of other civil lawsuits, though last year he did settle complaints<\/a> from a former assistant principal and teachers at his failed private Christian school Donda Academy. The staffers alleged deplorable conditions, including an overflowing septic tank, exposed electrical wiring and the removal of windows because Ye allegedly \u201cdid not like glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tFormer assistant Lauren Pisciotta sued Ye last year with claims he sexually harassed her<\/a> between 2021 and 2023, then wrongfully terminated her. She alleges he made obscene comments about her body, demanded she wear tight-fitting clothing, groped her, forced her to watch pornographic material, and sent sexually explicit images. Ye is fighting the lawsuit, with a hearing set for March 23.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a separate complaint, a model who appeared in a 2010 music video with Ye alleges he choked her with both hands<\/a>, smeared her makeup, and then \u201crammed several fingers down her throat.\u201d According to the lawsuit, Ye told her, \u201cThis is art. This is fucking art. I am like Picasso.\u201d He is seeking to dismiss the claims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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