Kanye West ordered to pay $181,433 in fees after Malibu mansion verdict
Kanye West, also known as Ye, has been ordered to pay $181,433 in lawyers’ fees and court costs after losing a legal dispute with a former worker at his Malibu mansion.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brock Hammond ordered West to pay $147,000 in attorneys’ fees to Tony Saxon’s legal team at West Coast Trial Lawyers, plus $34,433.93 in costs, according to Rolling Stone. The two amounts together make up the $181,433 total.
The order follows a jury verdict that had already found West liable for $140,000 in damages to Saxon. Jurors awarded $100,000 for past and future medical expenses and $40,000 for past pain and suffering. Saxon had asked for $1.7 million in compensatory damages, the money claimed to cover alleged losses, but the jury awarded far less.
At the centre of the case was a Malibu house designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. West purchased the property for $57 million in 2021. He later sold it in a gutted condition for $21 million, $36 million less than he paid.
Saxon was hired to help manage and remodel the house. He claimed West had agreed to pay him $20,000 per week, according to the BBC. Saxon said he received one $20,000 payment and one $100,000 payment. He claimed he was owed more than $1 million in unpaid wages and expenses, Courthouse News reported.
Saxon testified that he suffered back and neck injuries while living and working at the property. He also alleged that West failed to obtain workers’ compensation insurance, the cover employers are generally required to hold for staff hurt on the job. West gave evidence in his own defence at the trial in March.
Another worker, Jonathan Monroe, also worked at the Malibu property and claims he was never paid for that work.
What makes this stand out is the gap between what was claimed and what was awarded. Saxon’s case centred on seven-figure wage claims. The jury ruled in his favour, but only in part, and the latest order deals with the other side’s legal bill rather than the remodel itself.
