Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, is embroiled in a fresh legal battle over his infamous gutted Malibu mansion, filing a lawsuit against his former project manager Tony Saxon and Saxon’s lawyers over a disputed $1.8 million mechanics lien tied to the oceanfront property in Malibu, California. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ye’s complaint was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and accuses Saxon and the firm West Coast Trial Lawyers of wrongfully recording an “invalid” lien that he says was used to pressure him and disrupt a planned sale of the home.[1][3]
AllHipHop reports that Saxon, who previously sued West in 2023 for alleged labor violations, nonpayment of services, and disability discrimination, later recorded the $1.8 million lien in January 2024 to secure payment for his work as project manager and for construction-related services on the Malibu project.[1][2][3] In the new filing, West claims Saxon and his attorneys immediately launched a media campaign around the lien, including comments to Business Insider that “if someone wants to buy Kanye’s Malibu home, they will have to deal with us first,” framing the lien as a roadblock to any potential buyer until Saxon was paid.[1][2][3]
West’s lawsuit argues that those public statements were designed to chill interest in the listing and interfere with his ability to sell or finance the property by allegedly suggesting Saxon had an adjudicated right to derail any transaction.[1][2][3] The complaint further notes that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge previously granted West’s motion to release the lien from a bond and awarded him attorneys’ fees, although Saxon’s underlying claims reportedly remain in active litigation.[1][3] A mechanics lien, often used by contractors or laborers who say they have not been paid, can in some cases lead to foreclosure if the dispute is not resolved, adding high financial stakes to the conflict.[1][2]
The Malibu mansion itself has become a symbol of West’s turbulent real estate moves and legal troubles. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ye bought the Tadao Ando–designed concrete home in 2021 for about $57.3 million, then gutted the structure—removing windows, doors, plumbing, and electricity—before selling the unfinished property in 2024 for roughly $21 million, taking a reported multimillion-dollar loss.[1][3] AllHipHop notes that the current owner is now reportedly facing foreclosure issues tied to the same property, underscoring how the mansion has continued to generate financial and legal headaches even after West’s exit from the deed.[3][4][6]
This latest $1.8 million lien fight adds to a growing stack of lawsuits and controversies surrounding Kanye West, intersecting his construction ambitions, employment disputes, and ongoing financial questions. As the courts sort through the competing claims from West, Saxon, and the current owner’s lenders, the once high-profile Malibu project now stands as a cautionary tale about celebrity real estate experiments gone wrong—legally, financially, and publicly.[1][3][6]
