Tony Saxon sued Kanye West in 2023 over unpaid wages and working conditions regarding his Malibu property.

Kanye West is going to drop his new album BULLY later this month, but it seems like he has some legal issues to resolve amid this process. Per The Los Angeles Times, a lawsuit from Ye against construction manager Tony Saxon emerged in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday (January 8).

This is over the sale of Ye’s former Malibu mansion. Specifically, the lawsuit claims Saxon and the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers unrightfully placed a lien on the property for $1.8 million. It also alleges the perpetration of “an aggressive publicity campaign designed to pressure Ye, chill prospective transactions, and extract payment on disputed claims already being litigated in court.”

This follows Saxon’s own lawsuit against Kanye West from 2023, claiming labor law violations, unpaid wages, distressing workplace conditions, and disability discrimination. He sought to ensure compensation for his work through the lien, and the Chicago artist previously denied his claims.

“These statements were designed to create public pressure and to interfere with the Plaintiffs’ ability to sell and finance the Property by falsely conveying that Defendants held an adjudicated, enforceable right to block a transaction and divert sale proceeds,” the lawsuit reads. It also noted how the court released the lien from the bond, but how this still impacts real estate standings and other sale metrics.

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What Happened To Kanye West’s Malibu Mansion?

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Mar 16, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; American rapper Kanye West watches action between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics in the second quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images

The history of this Kanye West Malibu property is long and complex. He originally bought it in 2021 for $57.3 million, gutted it in an attempt to make a “bomb shelter,” and sold it to Steven Belmont’s Belwood Investments for $21 million. But since then, many other legal and financial disputes kept its status and its final buyer hanging in the air.

This is all in the background of Kanye West’s upcoming album BULLY. We got more information on the release leading to its final drop on Friday, January 30. This includes the tracklist, the sale of physical variants, and the claim from Ye’s team that he will not use artificial intelligence on the project. We will see how it shapes up, and how this long-running Malibu saga finally comes to a close.