A former employee of renowned artist and designer formerly known as Kanye West has accused the rapper of drugging and sexually assaulting her at an event he hosted with Sean “Diddy” Combs. The accusations include a range of severe charges, such as sex trafficking.
Lauren Pisciotta, who worked as an assistant for the artist from 2021 to 2022, claims the assault occurred years earlier, although she did not specify when.
In a recently updated lawsuit filed on October 8 in a Los Angeles court, Pisciotta states she was invited to a gathering at a recording studio in Santa Monica, which Combs co-hosted with another female music artist she was collaborating with at the time.
According to the report, guests at the studio were pressured to drink the served beverages, or they would have to leave. These drinks, according to the lawsuit, were provided under West’s instructions—Combs is not accused of any misconduct in the suit.
Pisciotta recounts that shortly after consuming a drink at the event, she began to “slip into an altered and highly impaired state,” and awoke the next day feeling “physically ill and confused.”
The fellow music artist she went with was unable to discuss her own experiences at the event, as noted in the lawsuit.
The former assistant, who initially sued West in June for wrongful termination and other instances of sexual assault, revealed in the revised lawsuit that she became aware of the alleged Santa Monica assault only during her later employment with West, who officially changed his name to Ye in 2021.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged disclosure surfaced years later.
Pisciotta claims that during her time working for West, he expressed frustration about a remark made by an unnamed woman, identified as his ex-wife—a reference to Kim Kardashian—implying that Pisciotta and West had been intimate.
Pisciotta considered clarifying to Kardashian that this allegation was false.
Subsequently, West purportedly admitted, “We did kind of hook up a little one time,” and recounted the alleged Santa Monica party.
When Pisciotta expressed her inability to remember that evening, Ye reportedly retorted, “Women love to claim they don’t remember.”
The lawsuit further alleges that Ye failed to pay Pisciotta a claimed salary of $4 million and engaged in sex trafficking.
It also accuses him of persistently soliciting her for sex, forcing himself on her while naked in a hotel room, confining her in a private jet’s bedroom while he masturbated, and presenting her as a sexual “gift” to an associate.
“She could not stomach the fact that she worked for the man who had sexually assaulted her against her will while she was drugged, who then successfully lured her back into his orbit by way of a job opportunity to sexually assault her all over again,” reads the suit, which accuses West of leaving Pisciotta with anxiety and PTSD.
Additionally, the complaint accuses West of forcing Pisciotta to shut down her lucrative OnlyFans account, making her entirely reliant on him for financial support, which he allegedly used as a means of control, along with lavish gifts funded by his Yeezy fashion enterprise.
Following the initial June lawsuit, representatives for Ye denounced Pisciotta’s allegations as unfounded.
In retaliation, a representative for the rapper indicated to The Independent that Ye intends to sue Ms. Pisciotta, accusing her of initiating sexual advances to secure employment and other benefits, then resorting to blackmail and extortion when rebuffed.
West’s team also justified her dismissal based on her lack of qualifications for the position and her unreasonable financial demands, including a $4 million annual salary. They further criticized her for “lascivious, unhinged behavior.”
They also accused her of “demanding money and material items, namely Hermes Birkin bags, a Lamborghini, and an endless quest for plastic surgery.”
