Shocking lawsuit

Kanye West wanted to lock children in cages

According to a lawsuit filed by a former employee, the rapper allegedly praised Hitler and threatened to lock children in cages.

(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Monica Schipper)

The controversial US rapper Kanye West has been targeted by the US judiciary for renewed anti-Semitic and Hitler-glorifying statements. He is also alleged to have threatened to lock children in cages at a school he founded. 

"The Jews are after me" and "The Jews want my money", West allegedly said to employees. This is according to the lawsuit filed by his former employee Trevor Phillips in California on Tuesday.

During a meal in an expensive restaurant, the rapper, who has spoken openly about his mental health problems in the past, described Adolf Hitler as "great". "He invented so much. It's thanks to him that we have cars," West is said to have said, possibly alluding to the legend that Hitler invented the autobahn. In fact, most of the plans for the construction of the autobahns date back to the Weimar era.

Kanye West with his wife Bianca Censori

(Bild: www.PPS.at)

No room for West's messages
Phillips also described West yelling at black-only employees on a regular basis. "Kanye also prohibited his employees from being fat," the indictment states. He allegedly told two children at a school he founded to shave their heads and threatened to put them in cages.

Phillips, who worked for West's fashion brand and a school he founded for almost a year, is seeking 35,000 dollars (32,500 euros) in damages. "We hope (...) that West understands that his messages, which we believe preach discrimination, anti-Semitism and love of Hitler, have no place in the world," emphasized his lawyer Carney Shegerian.

Wanted to "learn from experience"
Kanye West had apologized at the end of last year - shortly before the release of his new album - for anti-Semitic statements made in the past. He wanted to "learn" from this experience and be more sensitive and understanding in future, the rapper, who has renamed himself Ye, wrote in Hebrew on the online platform Instagram. At the time, his outbursts were more than a year old.

Kanye West had made threats against Jews on the online service X (then Twitter) in October 2022. He was subsequently banned from the online service. The German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas and other companies also ended their collaboration with the rapper. A few weeks later, West, who admits to having bipolar disorder, said in an interview that he likes Hitler and "loves Nazis".

Permissive clothing style
Most recently, West also made headlines with his wife Bianca Censori. He has been married to the Australian architect since 2022. Whenever she appears by his side, she causes a stir with her unusually revealing clothing style and usually also attracts criticism. 

Among other things, she has already appeared in a see-through raincoat or just in sheer tights and a pad in front of her otherwise bare chest.

West was previously married to reality actress Kim Kardashian, with whom he has four children, from 2014 to 2022.