Jury reaches decision in handyman's lawsuit over Ye's Malibu mansion renovations
Jurors reached a decision late Tuesday afternoon in the Los Angeles civil trial over disputed compensation for renovations on a Malibu home owned by rapper Ye.
The verdict was expected to be ready at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Refresh this page for updates after the announcement.
Plaintiff and handyman Tony Saxon claimed in the Los Angeles Superior Court civil lawsuit that Ye, 48, agreed to pay him $20,000 per week under a 2021 deal, but only turned over one $20,000 payment and $100,000 for construction costs. An attorney for Saxon accused Ye of maliciously firing his client, resulting in long-term harm.
Attorneys for Ye, who announced on Monday an April 3 concert at SoFi Stadium, have accused the plaintiff of lying.
In court Monday during closing arguments, Saxon's attorneys said in final arguments that the rapper owes tens of thousands in unpaid wages and overtime. They also claimed Saxon was unjustly fire after injuring his neck on the job.
Ye's attorneys said bank records show he paid Saxon $240,000 for his work. As for the injury, they said Saxon never sought consistent treatment and showed videos of Saxon as recently as last year appearing to move with pain.
On Friday, Ye told jurors that he didn't know if he was the CEO of one of his companies, Yeezy Construction. At times, Ye -- formerly known as Kanye West -- closed his eyes for long periods, appeared to open his eyes suddenly after his head fell forward and spoke quietly on the stand.
The "I Wonder" and "Stronger" singer also urged Saxon's attorney Ronald Zambrano to call him "Ye" instead of "Mr. Ye." Judges typically ask attorneys to address witnesses as "Mr." or "Ms." during court proceedings.
In his lawsuit, Saxon maintains he was forced to sleep on the mansion floor while acting as a security guard and fired in November 2021 for not complying with Ye's requests that could cause the plaintiff to be injured. Saxon claims he often complained to Ye about various dangers during the remodeling. Saxon alleges that workers unsafely demolished parts of the house with no safety equipment, yet Ye took no action addressing the complaints.
The day Ye fired Saxon, the singer told him, "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 just see me on TV," the suit filed in September 2023 states.
When Saxon replied, "I don't watch TV," Ye said, "Leave," the suit states.
In October, Hammond ruled that Ye should pay Saxon $3,320 in sanctions. An attorney for the plaintiff stated in his court papers that the rapper failed to abide by code requirements by delaying in serving verified responses to Saxon's interrogatories posed to him in 2023.
Interrogatories are sets of written questions. A verified response is a formal, written answer to a legal request, such as a court document or discovery request, that is signed under oath to confirm that the information is true and accurate.
