Kanye West Complains About ‘Negative Media Coverage’ in Plea to Judge to Delay Trial.
Kanye West, has asked a Los Angeles judge to delay his upcoming trial in which he faces discrimination allegations from his former employee, Tony Saxon. West, in court documents explained that he has struggled to find legal representation due to what he called "negative media coverage."
In a motion filed on Friday, February 7, through his attorney Manoj Shah, West requested a postponement of the trial set for February 24. Shah noted that the lawsuit filed by Tony in September 2023 had already been in progress for months. West's prior attorney, Brian Brumfield, withdrew from representing him in July 2024. According to Brumfield, “Ye terminated relationship on 6/21/2024. [Ye] also will not speak to counsel and [Ye] refuses to pay counsel as well.”
Shah argued that West had been struggling to retain litigation counsel because of the media’s negative portrayal of him. The motion explained that West interviewed between eight and ten national, regional, and local defense litigation firms for this case and others, but was unable to secure representation. “Defendants were unable to retain counsel,” Shah stated in the motion.
West has since hired a new attorney, Eduardo Martorell, to represent him in his ongoing legal battles. Martorell has taken over as lead counsel for several of West’s pending cases.
However, Shah mentioned that Martorell still requires more time to prepare. In a recent hearing, they conveyed the extreme difficulties West had in securing a trial lawyer. Shah emphasized that Martorell is ready to represent West but can only proceed if the trial date is postponed. He asked the court to reschedule the trial to August or another available date.
Shortly after the motion was filed, West took to his X account, where he made inflammatory remarks, including praising Adolf Hitler, making antisemitic comments, and attacking Taylor Swift. His account was deactivated on Sunday evening following the controversial posts.
In the lawsuit, Tony Saxon accuses West of discrimination and retaliation. According to Tony, he worked as a 24/7 security guard at West’s former Malibu property from September 2021 to November 2021. He claims that he was forced to sleep on the floor due to the lack of beds, despite being promised a salary of $20,000 per week.
Tony alleges that he was fired after refusing to comply with West’s demands that he felt could result in a fire hazard. According to Tony’s lawsuit, when he refused to engage in actions that he believed could harm him, West reportedly responded: “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.” To which Tony replied, “I don’t watch TV.” West allegedly ended the exchange with, “Leave.”
West denies all allegations of wrongdoing in the case. His former attorney argued that even if Tony suffered damages as claimed, those damages were likely caused by factors unrelated to West, and the liability should be reduced accordingly. “Without admitting that any damages were suffered by [Tony], if damages were suffered by [Tony] as alleged in the complaint, those damages were proximately caused by and contributed to by persons and entities other than [Ye],” the statement read.
