KANYE West has settled his class action lawsuit for $1.35 million against 599 Sunday Service performers after a four-year court battle over mistreatment, The U.S. Sun can reveal.
The beleaguered rapper, who’s facing numerous sexual harassment and employment lawsuits, will stump up the cash, along with his multiple firms.
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Kanye West settled his suit with almost 600 Sunday Service performersCredit: Getty
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The rapper seen performing Sunday Service during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts FestivalCredit: Getty
Kanye was sued by dancer Michael Pearson who worked at his Hollywood Bowl shows in November 2019.
In total, 599 performers – who were involved in what was coined the “Nebuchadnezzar Opera” – joined the suit with the plaintiffs seeking over $10 million in damages.
In Michael’s complaint, he was paid a daily rate of $250 independent of how many hours he worked.
“Failure to pay his overtime wages at the appropriate rate of pay, and failure to pay premium wages for missed meal and rest periods at the appropriate rate of pay,” the suit states.
Michael alleged that there weren’t enough chairs for all the performers so he was forced to stand all day and a staff shuttle they were promised to take them back to their cars didn’t show up.
He sued on seven counts including “unlawful and unfair business practices” with the defendants being Kanye himself, West Brands LLC, Very Good Touring Inc, and AJR Films Inc.
Frank Kim, of Kim Legal, APC, has now filed a motion for the preliminary approval of the settlement stating that it “is fair, adequate, reasonable, and in the best interest of the Class and the parties.”
The suit was filed back in August 2020 – and, in November last year, they agreed on a “confidential settlement.”
Now that settlement figure has been revealed in the new doc filed at Los Angeles Superior Court with attorney Frank claiming that they dealt with “very difficult, arms-length negotiations”.
“It was very difficult for the Parties to reach this Settlement of $1,350,000. This Settlement is the result of adversarial, non-collusive, and arms-length negotiations,” the filing states.
“The Parties arrived at it after extensive investigation and discovery, careful evaluation of the law, risks, and all information substantiating the amount of penalties reasonably likely to be awarded to the class were the trier of fact to find Defendants liable, and the assistance of an experienced mediator, Jason Marsili, Esq.”
The performers were after $10,596,557 in damages, which included $7.3 million in waiting time for unpaid wages and a $3.1 million penalty for violating the California labor code.
The latest court document also claims the parties attended an all-day mediation on October 23 and continued for weeks until this settlement was agreed on both sides.
“Although the parties did not resolve the matter that day, they continued their settlement discussions in the following weeks with the assistance of the mediator, and in response to a mediation proposal, the Parties reached a settlement, as provided herein, to settle Plaintiff’s claims on a class-wide and representative basis,” it states.
Kanye West’s recent controversies
Kanye West has faced a number of controversies in recent years.
In November 2022, a former Yeezy staffer alleged in a lawsuit Kanye showed them intimate photos of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
Staffers also claimed he played pornography for them during meetings and talked about porn.
The star, who has been sued by multiple former employees, has denied all of the claims.
In October 2023, Adidas dropped the rapper as various social media sites barred him from their platforms for making anti-semitic comments online, in interviews, and with his clothing.
Amid pleas from fans and threats of major boycotts, Adidas announced its decision to terminate his contract.
Gap and Balenciaga followed suit.
Kanye has said in the past that he suffers from a porn addiction, making the comments in an online rant that has since been deleted.
In his initial response to the lawsuit, Kanye and his companies argued Michael was never an employee and worked for a third-party company.
“This failure is particularly egregious, where Plaintiff seeks to impose liability on Defendant Kanye West in his individual capacity without a single allegation tying Mr. West’s individual actions to any of Plaintiff’s claims,” the response read.
HARASSMENT CLAIMS
The star’s counsel also argued Michael did not provide evidence he worked at more than a couple of shows as they demanded the lawsuit be tossed before agreeing to enter mediation.
Despite the Sunday Service lawsuit now being resolved, Kanye is still in hot water with multiple other former employees taking him to court for various reasons.
The most recent case involves his ex-assistant, Lauren Pisciotta, who is suing the star for allegedly sexually harassing her, stalking her, and sending her lewd messages.
She also claims in the suit that he failed to pay her $3 million in severance after she was let go, plus an additional $1 million he allegedly promised her for deleting her OnlyFans account.
Lauren worked for the hitmaker, now known as Ye, in 2021 and 2022, and paid her an annual wage of $1 million to be at his beck and call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
She is not only suing Kanye, but also his firms Yeezy, Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Footwear, and Yeezy Construction.
Among the bombshell accusations in the suit, Lauren alleges during a flight to a Yeezy Fashion Show in Paris, Kanye purportedly texted her asking for a “hug.”
She refused so Kanye allegedly came out of his room and asked her to come inside.
Once inside his room, he shut the door, leaving them trapped inside as it couldn’t be opened from the inside, she claimed in the suit.
She claims he then laid down on the bed and pleasured himself under the covers until he fell asleep, while she remained seated across from him in a chair.
Lauren claims she texted another employee who eventually came to open the door for her.
A legal representative, who was not named, gave a statement denying all of the claims to The Washington Post.
“In response to these baseless allegations, Ye will be filing a lawsuit against Ms. Pisciotta, who actively pursued him sexually to coerce employment and other material benefits, then engaged in blackmail and extortion when her advances were rejected,” it read.
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Kanye West has not held his Sunday Service church sessions for months amid mountain lawsuitsCredit: Splash
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He has faced criticism for his behavior and anti-Semitic comments in recent yearsCredit: AP
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Kanye West is also being sued by his ex assistant as she claims he sent lewd videos and texts before firing her
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