Kanye West is fighting back against his former project manager, who slapped a $1.8 million lien on his old Malibu mansion that he gutted and sold at a massive loss.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the rapper filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Tony Saxon and the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, alleging they wrongfully placed an invalid lien on the property and launched a public pressure campaign to force payment on disputed claims.
Saxon worked as West’s project manager, security guard, and caretaker at the Malibu property before suing the controversial artist in September 2023 for labor violations, nonpayment of services, and disability discrimination.
The former employee filed the mechanics lien in January 2024 to secure compensation for his construction-related work on the property, giving him the legal right to force a foreclosure sale if he remains unpaid.
West’s lawsuit alleges that Saxon and his attorneys immediately issued statements to the media after recording the lien, with attorney Ronald Zambrano telling Business Insider that potential buyers would have to deal with them before any sale could proceed.
“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 complaint states.
The legal filing states that the Los Angeles Superior Court granted West’s motion to release the lien from the bond last year and awarded him attorneys’ fees, yet Saxon’s team continues to pursue its claims.
The Malibu property has become a financial disaster for everyone who has touched it, starting with West’s original $57.3 million purchase of the Tadao Ando-designed concrete masterpiece in 2021.
Kanye West completely gutted the architectural jewel, removing windows, doors, electricity, plumbing, and breaking down walls while reportedly saying he wanted to turn it into his “bomb shelter” and “Batcave.”
Three years later, he sold the unfinished concrete shell to developer Steven Belmont’s Belwood Investments for just $21 million, taking a staggering $36 million loss on the investment.
Belmont has struggled with the property ever since, first trying to flip it for $39 million before dropping the price to $34.9 million when no buyers emerged.
Now the current owner faces his own financial crisis, with Quality Loan Service Corp hitting him with a notice of default claiming he owes $814,623.54 on his $18.5 million mortgage as of November 4.
Belmont has 90 days to catch up on payments or risk losing the entire property to foreclosure, forcing him to get creative with a new “Populis” timeshare concept.
The desperate developer is now pitching memberships ranging from $1,000 for basic “gold” access to $300,000 for “Founders Circle” packages that include chef dinners, concierge service, and four private estate sessions annually.
The timeshare plan is Belmont’s last-ditch effort to generate revenue from the cursed property, which has burned through millions of dollars without producing any successful outcomes for its owners.
The lawsuit adds another chapter to the ongoing legal drama surrounding the concrete mansion, which continues to generate headlines for all the wrong reasons more than two years after West sold it.
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