When a construction worker’s lawsuit over Kanye West’s troubled Malibu mansion project kicks off in a Los Angeles courtroom this week, everyone better be dressed appropriately, a judge warned Friday.
The judge didn’t mention any potential rule-breakers by name, but West, now known as Ye, famously sold T-shirts emblazoned with swastikas, while his wife Bianca Censori once wore an “invisible dress” made from pantyhose material on the Grammys red carpet. The rapper and his wife are both expected to testify at the trial, which is scheduled to last 12 days. It’s also possible Censori will sit at the defense table as a representative of her husband’s company, the couple’s lawyer, Andrew Cherkasky, said on Friday.
“The parties and witnesses you’re calling must comply with the basic dress code of the court. No hats, sunglasses, or revealing clothing. No drama,” Judge Brock T. Hammond said at the final status conference Friday. “And if someone doesn’t comply, they will not be allowed in the courtroom. If a witness is not dressed appropriately, they will be turned around at the door.”
The trial will zero in on claims that Ye and his property company hired plaintiff Tony Saxon in September 2021 to oversee renovations of the beachfront mansion designed by Pritzker Prize–winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando. In a saga that made headlines nationwide, Ye purchased the stunning home for $57.3 million in 2021 and stripped it to its bare concrete shell before finally unloading it in September 2024 for just $21 million, marking a staggering loss. The buyer, Steve “Bo” Belmont, told the Los Angeles Times that his goal was to restore the architectural gem, “to make it as though Kanye was never there.”
According to the lawsuit, Saxon agreed to oversee the project while living on the property and providing round-the-clock security. Saxon alleges he was promised $20,000 a week but received only a single payment. He further alleges he slept at the construction site without a bed and struggled to meet what he describes as increasingly extreme demands. He contends he was fired in retaliation for raising safety concerns.
On Friday, Cherkasky expressed his own concerns about the trial. He said it was possible members of the public with “very strong opinions” might show up wearing their own shirts with potentially offensive content. The judge said people with “specific messaging” on their attire would be “excluded” from the courtroom.
Cherkasky also raised concerns that Ye’s presence at the courthouse might create security issues. “I’m nervous about safety,” he said, noting that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance earlier this week at a different courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
“Mr. Zuckerberg was mobbed by people who were touching and grabbing him,” Cherkasky said. If Ye is “just standing in the hallway” during court breaks, “it could be a dangerous situation” for him and others, he said. “I’m requesting, even if it’s just a closet or some sort, that we have some place we can go where there’s a zone of safety for my client,” Cherkasky said.
“There is no special treatment for anyone in this courthouse,” the judge replied. “I can tell you that court security knows this case is coming up. There will be a deputy in the courtroom.”
If no last-minute settlement is reached over the next few days, Saxon’s lawsuit will become the first to reach a jury trial out of a wave of civil complaints from plaintiffs who worked for Ye over the last six years. Ye, 48, was famously sued more than a dozen times after going on a highly publicized antisemitic tirade several years ago. In October 2022, he tweeted his now-infamous plan to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.” Weeks later, Rolling Stone published an investigation that found he presided over a “toxic” work environment at his Yeezy label, telling one staffer that “skinheads and Nazis were his greatest inspiration.” Ye later apologized in an Instagram post written in Hebrew, but he again promoted antisemitic ideology, sporting a T-shirt for the Norwegian metal musician Burzum, who has been fined for antisemitism. West also promoted Vultures 1 with artwork that evoked Burzum’s cover art.
Last month, Ye purchased a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal to apologize again for his antisemitic remarks. In the statement, titled “To Those I’ve Hurt,” he coupled his apology with a discussion of his struggle with bipolar disorder. Ye said he was not properly diagnosed until 2023 and that head trauma sustained in a 2002 car accident, which left his jaw shattered, contributed to manic episodes and statements he now deeply regrets.
At trial, Ye is expected to face claims he directed Saxon to remove all electricity and windows from the Malibu home and rely only on large generators to power the renovation. Saxon says he objected, warning that the plan posed a serious fire hazard and created “extreme danger” to his safety. According to the underlying lawsuit, Ye dismissed those concerns, accused Saxon of being “an enemy,” and told him to “get the hell out.”
In an Instagram post, Saxon said Ye’s vision for the home was “open concept BUT off the grid.” He said Ye wanted a bomb shelter in the basement and “NO ELECTRICITY NO WINDOWS NO PLUMBING and NO STAIRS!!!” Saxon alleges he injured his back during the project. His lawsuit is seeking unpaid wages, medical expenses, and damages for lost earnings and emotional distress. Saxon’s lawyers, Ronald Zambrano and Neama Rahmani, previously won a multimillion-dollar verdict for a plaintiff who sued Soulja Boy.
Courtesy of Sotheby’s