Kanye West has filed a fresh lawsuit accusing a former employee and his legal team of improperly using the rapper’s former Malibu home as leverage in an ongoing legal battle.
Court documents filed on January 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court show that West, also known as Ye, together with his real estate company, Shore Drive Holdings LLC, is suing Anthony Saxon Netelkos — also known as Tony Saxon — along with Saxon’s lawyers and their firm, West Coast Trial Lawyers.
In the lawsuit, Ye claims Saxon and his attorneys wrongly recorded and maintained a mechanic’s lien worth about $1.8 million against the Malibu property. He argues the lien was invalid and used as part of a broader effort to pressure him publicly rather than resolve a legitimate payment dispute.
According to the filing, Ye believes the move was accompanied by what he describes as an aggressive publicity campaign meant to interfere with potential property sales and force him to pay claims that were already being addressed in a separate lawsuit.
Saxon first sued West in September 2023, accusing him of labor violations and failing to pay for construction and demolition work linked to the Malibu home. West has denied all those claims.
The new lawsuit states that after Ye listed the Malibu property for sale in December 2023, Saxon and his legal team filed a mechanic’s lien on January 10, 2024, claiming $1,819,986 for unpaid work. Such liens are typically used by contractors who say they were not paid and can block or delay the sale of a property.
Ye’s complaint also points to public comments allegedly made by Saxon’s attorney, Ronald Zambrano, suggesting that any potential buyer would have to deal with Saxon’s side before a sale could go through. Ye argues those statements were intended to apply public pressure and falsely implied Saxon had the power to stop the sale or redirect its proceeds.
The lawsuit further claims Saxon made similar statements online on the same day, again suggesting that money from any sale would be used to pay him.
Ye says Saxon and his lawyers failed to properly enforce the lien within the legal timeframe, causing it to expire under the law. He adds that he later obtained a lien release bond to clear the property’s title and move forward with a transaction.
According to the filing, the court has already ruled in Ye’s favor on key issues. A judge reportedly approved the release of the lien from the bond on July 1, 2025, and later awarded Ye attorney’s fees on October 2, 2025.
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