Ye’s 'Director of Intelligence' Claims He Was Told to Investigate the Kardashians for Alleged 'Criminal Links’

A former Ye employee says the rapper also hired investigators to follow his wife, Bianca Censori.

October 10, 2024
Kanye West attends the Anonymous Club fashion show during Berlin Fashion Week SS25
Kanye West attends the Anonymous Club fashion show during Berlin Fashion Week SS25
Matthias Nareyek/Getty Images

A former Kanye West employee says he was tasked with investigating the Kardashians for their alleged links to criminal enterprises.

The claim was made in a 22-page lawsuit alleging retaliation and infliction of emotional distress, as well as violations of California labor codes. The plaintiff — identified as “John Doe” — says he began working for Ye in late 2022 as his “deputy campaign manager” and was later appointed as Ye’s “director of intelligence.”

According to legal documents reviewed by Complex, Doe allegedly oversaw Ye’s nondisclosure agreements and investigations into the artist’s former in-laws, as he was convinced the family was involved in criminal activity, including “alleged sex trafficking.”

Doe says he was also told to hire private investigators to track Ye’s wife, Bianca Censori, as she traveled back home to Australia. The plaintiff alleges Censori was unaware she was being followed during these solo trips.

Ye’s former employee says he and the artist had a falling out back in May, after the plaintiff received a concerning call about Donda Academy, the controversial private school Ye founded in 2022. Doe says an academy staffer alleged students were being abused at the school, and nothing was being done “to correct or report the problem”; so, he informed Yeezy leadership about the allegations, which led to a blow-up.

“Ye himself called Doe to yell, curse and threaten Doe with great bodily injury, including death, if Doe repeated what Doe learned,” the lawsuit read.

Ye allegedly told the plaintiff, “You’re fucking dead to me!” and played him “a recording of scary voices that were threatening to harm” him. Doe also claims he was paid below minimum wage during his time with the Yeezy team and was not compensated for the last several pay periods leading up to his exit.

Related News

The plaintiff is seeking restitution of unpaid wages, attorneys’ fees, and damages to be determined at a jury trial.

“Ye has only himself to blame for his mounting legal woes,” Doe’s attorney, Ron Zambrano, said in a statement. “He just can’t continue hiring employees, treating them terribly, then refusing to pay them in violation of numerous employment laws, let alone threaten to kill them as he did in this case. Our client is so fearful of Ye and his erratic, disturbing and unpredictable behavior that he wishes to remain anonymous for his own safety. It’s not only illegal but unconscionable that an employer would threaten any employee with bodily harm or death.”