Kanye West Calls Out His Former Employee for ‘Frivolous’ Mechanics Lien Against His Sold ‘Bomb Shelter’

Kanye ‘Ye’ West and another former employee are involved in another legal dispute.

Due to Tony Saxon’s claim of unpaid debt against his now-sold Malibu mansion, the rapper is suing his former staffer. According to reports, the lien postponed the mansion’s sale.

Last September, Kanye ‘Ye’ West apparently grew tired of transforming the site into his ideal building and sold off the planned “bomb shelter” mansion.

The legal team for Kanye West wants the lien of his former employee to be removed.

After Saxon, a former employee, put a $1.8 million lien on Ye’s old Malibu property, the designer recently vented his fury. Ye claims that this action created issues while the property was being sold last year.

Ye explained that Saxon filed the lien on January 10, 2024, in a court petition submitted on May 1. It was submitted in an attempt to allegedly obtain payment for the construction and project management services he allegedly rendered at the residence.

After extensive renovations, the rapper sold the four-bedroom property for $21 million in September 2024, having paid $57.3 million for it in 2021.

Ye secured a $2.2 million Mechanics Lien Release Bond from an insurance firm to expedite the sale and clear the title. He claims, however, that Saxon has not yet released his lien in spite of the bond.

Legal counsel representing the musician called the lien “frivolous” and “unenforceable,” arguing that it was filed in “bad faith” because Saxon lacked a license to work as a contractor. According to information obtained by In Touch, Ye’s lawyers are requesting that the lien be lifted right away and that the $2.2 million bond be returned.

The rapper was dragged to court for discrimination by his former employees.

A lawsuit alleging retaliation and discrimination against the designer during his employment was filed by Saxon in September 2023. 

Saxon said that he was required to be on duty twenty-four hours a day while working as a security guard for Ye’s Malibu residence from September to November 2021.

Saxon claims that because there were no beds available, he was forced to sleep on the property’s floor. The rapper offered him a salary of $20,000 per week.

Things took a terrible turn, though, as he said he was fired for refusing to carry out actions he deemed unsafe at Ye’s request. 

According to the lawsuit, Saxon described a heated argument in which Ye threatened to fire him and stop treating him as a friend if he did not comply with his requests. The lawsuit said:

“Mr. Ye said, ‘If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore, and you’ll only see me on TV,’ in response to [Tony’s] refusal to engage in illegal behavior or to engage in activities that would further injure him physically. ‘I don’t watch TV,’ [Tony] responded. Mr. Ye said, “Leave,” to conclude the conversation.

Ye did not deal directly with the former security guard, according to the Yeezy CEO’s lawyer.

Ye vehemently denied any misconduct in Saxon’s first court hearing. Even if Saxon suffered damages, his previous lawyer argued at the time, they were due to circumstances outside Ye’s control. As stated by the attorney: 

“Without admitting that any damages were suffered by [Tony] if damages were suffered by [Tony] as alleged in the complaint, those damages were proximately caused by and contributed to by persons and entities other than [Ye].”

The lawyer underlined that any liability ascribed to Ye ought to be modified in accordance with each party’s relative fault. There have been several delays in the court proceedings, especially when Ye’s prior attorney stopped representing him for a while. 

Since then, Eduardo Martorell has been his new lawyer. Furthermore, Bianca Censori, Ye’s wife, has lately entered the case as a possible witness.

Ye recorded a loss of $32 million on the sale of his property.

After several price reductions, Ye ultimately sold his partially restored Malibu mansion, which is sometimes referred to as a “bomb shelter” project, last year. 

According to The Blast, the rapper had originally advertised the house for $53 million, but problems during renovations resulted in a lawsuit and the estate’s decline. 

In the end, he received $21 million for the abandoned house from California-based real estate crowdfunding company Belwood Investments. 

With a $32 million drop from the initial asking price, the sale price marked a sizable discount. Plans to invest an additional $5 million in the property were stated by the buyer and Bo Belmont, CEO of Belwood. 

This was set aside to repair the harm done by Ye’s remodeling and return the mansion to Tadao Ando’s original plan. 

Kanye West Purchased an Eight-Figure Beverly Hills Property

Shortly as the ink dried on the sales paper for his shelved Malibu project, the rapper received double the difficulty. Last October, The Blast revealed that the rapper had purchased an opulent home in Beverly Park North, a gated community in Beverly Hills. 

Notable people including Justin Bieber, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, and Mark Wahlberg have called the celebrity-studded neighborhood home over the years.

The gorgeous property, which is about seven acres in size and contains eleven bedrooms and eighteen bathrooms, was bought by him for $35 million. The large 20,000-square-foot residence has a resort-style pool area and an entertainment pavilion connected to the main house. 

A paddle tennis court, a pool house, a gazebo, and tumbling waterfalls decorate the pool area. The same LLC that he used to sell his Malibu property last September was employed for this off-market deal.

Can Kanye ‘Ye’ West get his petition approved?