Ye said he is ‘going for the gays’ and called Hitler an ‘innovator’, lawsuit alleges

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, is being sued a former employee who claims the artist said he was “going for the gays”, praised Adolf Hitler and espoused antisemitic rhetoric.

The lawsuit was filed by Trevor Phillips, a former employee of Ye who was hired in November 2022, on Tuesday (2 April) in a Los Angeles court. Phillips said he was originally hired to oversee projects related to “growing cotton” for Yeezy projects before eventually working for Ye’s private Christian school Donda Academy. 

In the filings, Phillips accused Ye of comparing himself to Hitler – “minus the gas chambers” – before calling the Nazi party leader “great” and “an innovator”. 

The lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court claimed Ye also made antisemitic comments in front of Donda Academy staff including that he believed the “Jews are out to get” him and the “Jews are stealing all [his] money”. 

Phillips also accused Ye of making anti-LGBTQ+ remarks. At one point, Ye allegedly said: “Yeah, I am going for the gays! FIRST the Jews, THEN the gays.”

It was also alleged that Ye claimed LGBTQ+ people are “controlled by Bill Gates so that they don’t have children for population control”, and that queer people “are not true Christians”. 

Phillips claims that when he tried to push back against Ye’s “bigotry”, the rapper “responded mercilessly, with incessant harassment, humiliation and attempts to both mentally control and destroy” his employee, the lawsuit alleges. 

“Kanye’s ill-will towards the plaintiff ultimately culminated in a vulgar lashing in front of schoolchildren and their parents. Kanye even threatened Phillips with physical violence,” the filing claims. 

PinkNews has reached out to representatives for Ye for comment. 

According to the lawsuit, some of Ye’s “dangerous rhetoric” was repeated in front of students at Donda Academy. Ye allegedly expressed that he wanted to shave students’ heads and lock them in cages.

Other accusations in the filing included that Ye once simulated masturbation during a one-on-one meeting in a hotel room, threatened to punch Phillips in the face and told employees they could be fired for being “fat”.

Ye has previously been condemned for making antisemitic remarks

The lawsuit follows years of controversy for Ye, who has been widelt condemned for making inflammatory and antisemitic comments in recent years.

In October 2022, Ye faced backlash after he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt at his Paris fashion show. 

A few days later, he wrote on social media that he was “going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” who he alleged “toyed with” him and “tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda”. 

His remarks resulted in several brands cutting ties with the rapper, including Balenciaga, Adidas, Gap and JPMorgan Chase among others. 

In November 2022, Ye brought along right-wing commentators Nick Fuentes and Milo Yiannopoulos, who would later be involved in Ye’s failed presidential campaign, to a podcast interview with Tim Pool. 

When pressed about his antisemitic comments, Ye claimed he was the victim of a “set up” before storming off. 

A short while later, Ye invoked more outrage when he said that he saw “good things about Hitler” in an interview with far-right figure Alex Jones. He later declared: “I do love Hitler. I do love the Zionists.”

In 2023, Ye apologised to “the Jewish community” for his past antisemitic remarks. He posted the apology, written in Hebrew, for his “unplanned outburst” to his Instagram.

The rapper said it wasn’t his “intention to hurt or disrespect”, and he “deeply” regretted “any pain [he] may have caused”. 

Back in February, rock legend Ozzy Osbourne expressed his displeasure with Ye on social media after the rapper used an unapproved sample of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” at a live listening event. 

The rock idol said the band refused to permit Ye to sample the track because “he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many” in a statement on X/Twitter.