Benjamin Deshon Provo, a former security guard in the rapper's Christian school Donda Academy, claims in a new lawsuit that he was fired because he refused to cut his dreads.
- Apr 27, 2024
AceShowbiz - Kanye West faces yet another lawsuit from a former employee. Benjamin Deshon Provo, who used to work as a security guard in the rapper's Christian school Donda Academy, said he was fired because of the color of his skin.
In his lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Friday, April 26, Benjamin, who is black, claims that Ye "frequently screaming" and harassing him and other black employees. "Kanye and members of his management team subjected Provo and other black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts," the lawsuit claims.
"Specifically, Kanye frequently screamed at and berated black employees, while in contrast, he never so much as raised his tone of voice toward white staff," it continues. According to Benjamin, the Chicago star also mocked him for his dreads even though he said that he chose the hairstyle because of his Muslim faith.
"Kanye and members of his management team required Provo to choose between these critical aspects of his self-identity and financial stability," the complaint further alleges, "Indeed, at the direction of Kanye, Provo was given the ultimatum, cut his hair, or be fired." Benjamin was allegedly fired after he refused to do so.
Not stopping there, the ex-security guard claims that Ye banned books about historical black figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. "Further, Kanye regularly expressed negative beliefs associated with prominent black leaders that advocated for or sought to advance the black community," he notes in the suit.
Benjamin also claims that he was often forced into engaging in uncomfortable physical altercations as part of his job as a security guard. In 2023, Ye instructed him to "prevent paparazzi from interacting with Kanye by any means necessary, including acts of violence."
"Specifically, plaintiff was required to use physical force to remove paparazzi from the direct vicinity of Kanye and those in his company," the complaint explains. "Kanye required that plaintiff snatch cameras from paparazzi, take their sim cards and provide them to Kanye. Notably, this was a practice regularly engaged in by Kanye, who has a documented history of assaulting paparazzi."
It includes a photo from a recent spat that West was involved in with a TMZ reporter as evidence. When he told Ye's manager John Hicks that he didn't want to go to jail, the manager said, "We will bail you out."
Ye has yet to comment on the allegations. Instead, the rapper is now busy to prepare his new venture, Yeezy Porn.
